The addictive personality is the behavior of the addict.

Research on the relation between personality and the etiology of alcohol and drug abuse has revealed a single consistent finding: a correlation between antisocial behavior in childhood and adolescence and alcoholism in adulthood. It is antisocial behavior, however, and not antisocial personality, that most observers identify as a precursor of alcoholism. Unfortunately, the high rates of antisocial behavior in our society render it an inefficient predictor of alcohol and drug abuse. Research on the link between personality and the course of alcohol and drug abuse has suggested that substantial numbers of abusers meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for antisocial personality disorder and that depression also frequently accompanies alcohol and drug dependence. No personality factors and no other behaviors have reliably differentiated abusers from others: Antisocial behavior and depression are behaviors that are symptomatic, respectively, of disregard for society's rules and of clinical dysphoria. Moreover, the depressed behavior of alcoholics appears largely to be consequent rather than antecedent to their alcoholism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing the relations between impulsivity-related traits, suicidality, and nonsuicidal self-injury: A test of the incremental validity of the UPPS model.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has received significant attention as a predictor of suicidal behavior (SB) and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Despite significant promise, trait impulsivity has received less attention. Understanding the relations between impulsivity and SB and NSSI is confounded, unfortunately, by the heterogeneous nature of impulsivity. This study examined the relations among 4 personality pathways to impulsive behavior studied via the UPPS model of impulsivity and SB and NSSI in a residential sample of drug abusers (N = 76). In this study, we tested whether these 4 impulsivity-related traits (i.e., Negative Urgency, Sensation Seeking, Lack of Premeditation, and Lack of Perseverance) provide incremental validity in the statistical prediction of SB and NSSI above and beyond BPD; they do. We also tested whether BPD symptoms provide incremental validity in the prediction of SB and NSSI above and beyond these impulsivity-related traits; they do not. In addition to the main effects of Lack of Premeditation and Negative Urgency, we found evidence of a robust interaction between these 2 personality traits. The current results argue strongly for the consideration of these 2 impulsivity-related domains—alone and in interaction—when attempting to understand and predict SB and NSSI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent attachment and psychopathology.

The relationships among attachment classification, psychopathology, and personality traits were examined in a group of 60 psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents. The concordance of attachment classification was examined in 27 adolescent-mother pairs. Both adolescent and maternal attachment status were overwhelmingly insecure and were highly concordant. Adolescents showing a dismissing attachment organization were more likely to have a conduct or substance abuse disorder, narcissistic or antisocial personality disorder, and self-reported narcissistic, antisocial, and paranoid personality traits. Adolescents showing a preoccupied attachment organization were more likely to have an affective disorder, obsessive-compulsive, histrionic, borderline or schizotypal personality disorder, and self-reported avoidant, anxious, and dysthymic personality traits. The results support a model of development of psychopathology based partially on relational experiences with parents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relations among personality, symptoms of alcohol and marijuana abuse, and symptoms of comorbid psychopathology: Results from a community sample.

This study examined the relation of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality to symptoms of alcohol and marijuana abuse before and after controlling for symptoms of antisocial personality disorder (APD) and internalizing psychopathology. The 481 participants completed a well-validated measure of the FFM and a structured diagnostic interview at age 21 years. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that unique constellations of personality characteristics were associated with symptoms of alcohol abuse, marijuana abuse, APD, and internalizing disorders. For example, symptoms of alcohol abuse were associated with high Extraversion and low Conscientiousness, whereas symptoms of marijuana abuse were characterized by low Extraversion and high Openness to Experience. Findings have implications for models of the etiology and treatment of substance use and abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal characteristics of male criminal offenders: Personality, psychopathological, and behavioral correlates.

Interest in conceptualizing the interpersonal style of individuals who engage in serious antisocial behavior has increased in recent years. This study examines the personality, psychopathological, and behavioral correlates of interpersonal dominance and warmth, as operationalized via scales of the Personality Assessment Inventory (L. Morey, 2007), across several samples of male prison inmates (combined N = 1,062). Consistent with theory, multivariate analyses indicated that low warmth and, to a lesser extent, high dominance were associated with antisocial and paranoid traits, specifically, and externalizing-spectrum psychopathology more generally, whereas borderline traits and internalizing-spectrum psychopathology were uniquely associated with low interpersonal warmth. Among smaller subsamples of inmates followed prospectively, high dominance and, to a lesser extent, low warmth predicted general and aggressive institutional misconduct, whereas dominance uniquely predicted staff ratings of treatment noncompliance/failure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Subtypes of cocaine abusers: Support for a Type A–Type B distinction.

The dysfunction and generalizability of a multidimensional alcoholism typological system was systematically assessed in 399 inpatient, outpatient, and non-treatment-seeking cocaine abusers. Two different cluster-analytic procedures supported the construct, concurrent, and predictive validity of the Type A–Type B distinction in cocaine abusers. Participants classified as Type B (33%) cocaine abusers exhibited higher rates of premorbid risk factors (family history, childhood behavior problems, personality, age of onset), more severe drug and alcohol abuse, more addiction-related psychosocial impairment, more antisocial behavior, and more comorbid psychiatric problems than Type A participants (67%). Multidimensional typological systems have had a major impact on the alcoholism field and may be equally important for the assessment, prevention, treatment, and theoretical understanding of other substance use disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validation of a system of classifying female substance abusers on the basis of personality and motivational risk factors for substance abuse.

This study explored the validity of classifying a community-recruited sample of substance-abusing women (N?=?293) according to 4 personality risk factors for substance abuse (anxiety sensitivity, introversion-hopelessness, sensation seeking, and impulsivity). Cluster analyses reliably identified 5 subtypes of women who demonstrated differential lifetime risk for various addictive and nonaddictive disorders. An anxiety-sensitive subtype demonstrated greater lifetime risk for anxiolytic dependence, somatization disorder, and simple phobia, whereas an introverted-hopeless subtype evidenced a greater lifetime risk for opioid dependence, social phobia, and panic and depressive disorders. Sensation seeking was associated with exclusive alcohol dependence, and impulsivity was associated with higher rates of antisocial personality disorder and cocaine and alcohol dependence. Finally, a low personality risk subtype demonstrated lower lifetime rates of substance dependence and psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of battering among 997 men: family history, adjustment, and attitudinal differences

In order to identify the characteristics associated with physical abuse of female partners, a detailed questionnaire was administered to 997 men who were recruited from either a forensic out-patient clinic (780) or from a community based employment center (217). This questionnaire sampled family and personal history, criminal behavior, psychopathology, and attitudes towards violence. Based upon self-report, the sample was divided into 184 non-abusive men, 517 moderately abusive men, and 296 severely abusive men. The full sample (997) was randomly divided into two subsamples and then, using a cross-validation design, group differences were identified in both subsamples on 46 of the 93 variables examined in this study. All significant effects were linear, such that the average scores of the severely abusive men were worse than the scores of the abusive men who, in turn, scored worse than the non-abusive men. In general, both groups of abusive men reported high rates of violence during childhood (both as victims and perpetrators), antisocial personality disorder, subjective distress, marital maladjustment, attitudes tolerant of spouse assault, and a range of impulsive behaviors (impulsive violence, substance abuse, motor vehicle accidents). The factors that correlated with abuse in the total sample also correlated with abuse in the community sample.     

Perceived victimization moderates self-reports of workplace aggression and conflict.

A sample of 489 employed men between 32 and 36 years old responded to questions concerning rates of having engaged in workplace aggression and conflict. These individuals also completed a personality inventory and questionnaires related to past antisocial behavior and alcohol abuse. Consistent with prior research, workplace aggression and conflict were significantly correlated with particular personality variables (stress reaction, aggression, and control) as well as with general past antisocial behavior and alcohol abuse. Furthermore, these relationships were moderated by the perception of being victimized by others (alienation), with such perceptions strengthening associations between workplace aggression and other risk factors. These interaction effects, which cannot plausibly be attributed to the use of a self-report criterion, could have important implications for understanding and predicting aggression and conflict behavior within organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heterogeneity in the families of sons of alcoholics: The impact of familial vulnerability type on offspring characteristics.

In 2 samples of sons of alcoholics (family history positive for alcoholism; FHP: N?=?74 & N?=?72), cluster analyses identified 3 subtypes of familial vulnerability: 1 with low levels of familial psychopathology (FHP-LP) and moderate levels of familial alcoholism; a 2nd with high levels of familial antisocial personality (FHP-ASP), violence, and alcoholism; and a 3rd with high levels of familial depression (FHP-DEP), mania, anxiety disorder, and alcoholism. Compared with family history negative (FHN) participants (N?=?106), FHP offspring had higher levels of alcohol problems. FHP-ASP offspring had elevated levels of antisocial traits and negative affect. Compared with FHN participants, FHP-DEP offspring elevated levels of antisocial traits, hypomania, and experience seeking. FHP-LP offspring had moderate levels of antisocial traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing the basic traits associated with psychopathy: Development and validation of the Elemental Psychopathy Assessment.

A new self-report assessment of the basic traits of psychopathy was developed with a general trait model of personality (five-factor model [FFM]) as a framework. Scales were written to assess maladaptive variants of the 18 FFM traits that are robustly related to psychopathy across a variety of perspectives including empirical correlations, expert ratings, and translations of extant assessments. Across 3 independent undergraduate samples (N = 210–354), the Elemental Psychopathy Assessment (EPA) scales proved to be internally consistent and unidimensional, and were strongly related to the original FFM scales from which they were derived (mean convergent r = .66). The EPA scales also demonstrated substantial incremental validity in the prediction of existing psychopathy measures over their FFM counterparts. When summed to form a psychopathy total score, the EPA was substantially correlated with 3 commonly used psychopathy measures (mean r = .81). Finally, in a small male forensic sample (N = 70), the EPA was significantly correlated with scores on a widely used self-report psychopathy measure, disciplinary infractions, alcohol use, and antisocial behavior. The EPA provides an opportunity to examine psychopathy and its nomological network through smaller, more basic units of personality rather than by scales or factors that blend these elements. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Study of the biosynthesis of fumonisins B1, B2 and B3 by different strains of Fusarium moniliforme

The relation between childhood behavior disorders (CBD), attentional difficulties (ADD), and antisocial personality disorder (ASP) was examined in a clinical population of alcoholics and polysubstance abusers. Polysubstance abusers reported increased CBD symptomatology, increased attentional problems, a higher rate of ASP, and a greater number of both current and lifetime ASP symptoms relative to alcoholics without polysubstance abuse. An examination of gender effects revealed significant differences on self-reported adult attentional problems, with females endorsing a greater number of items. As a group, females exhibited the highest rate of ASP. Males showed a significant correlation between current ASP symptoms and both attention and conduct problems in early childhood.     

A comparison of alcohol typologies using HIV risk behaviors among alcoholic inpatients.

Evaluated the strength of associations for HIV risk behavior and 5 typologies of alcoholism (gender, comorbid psychopathology, gamma–delta, family history, and drug abuse) among 802 inpatients (481 men and 321 women; mean age 34.4 yrs) at alcohol treatment centers. Findings suggest that some of the alcohol typologies describe subtypes with significant differences on rates and levels of HIV risk behaviors. Specifically, gender, depression, and anxiety subtypes were not consistently associated with HIV risk; however, the antisocial personality disorder and drug abuse subtypes had the strongest average effect size across a number of indicators of HIV risk behaviors (e.g., condom nonuse, multiple sex partners, and injection drug use). The gamma–delta and family history subtypes also resulted in elevated HIV risk behaviors, although with smaller effect sizes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality, temperament, and character dimensions and the DSM-IV personality disorders in substance abusers.

The authors evaluated the relationship between P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae's (1992) NEO 5-factor model, C. R. Cloninger's (1993) 7-factor Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and the American Psychiatric Association's (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., personality disorders in 370 inpatient and outpatient alcohol, cocaine, and opiate abusers. NEO Neuroticism was associated with many disorders, and different patterns for Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion emerged for the different disorders. Several TCI scales were associated with different personality disorders, although not as strongly as the NEO dimensions. Results did not support most predictions made for the TCI. Normal personality dimensions contributed significantly to the prediction of personality disorder severity above and beyond substance abuse and depression symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathology in inpatients dependent on cocaine or alcohol and cocaine.

Assessed the differences between cocaine- and cocaine-plus-alcohol-dependent inpatients along several psychological variables. Of the 144 men that served as Ss, 113 were cocaine dependent and 31 were dependent on both cocaine and alcohol (CD-AD). CD-AD Ss showed significantly more symptoms of depression and anxiety and were more likely to have antisocial and avoidant personality disorders. The CD-AD group scored higher overall on the MMPI clinical scales. Results suggest that patients dependent on both cocaine and alcohol require increased attention to psychopathology during treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathology of drug abusers: sex and ethnic considerations

A cross-validation approach was used to explore potential differences in degree and type of psychopathology among sex and race subgroups of 428 drug abusers applying to two geographically distant tratment programs. Dimensions of psychopathology were measured by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), and analyses of covariance and chi-square procedures were used to compare subgroups on scale elevations and types of psychopathology. Personality characteristics were highly similar across treatment programs, and applicants were characterized by antisocial, passive-dependent, and psychotic symptomatology. Men and women differed little in extent or type of psychopathology, suggesting that women were no more psychologically aberrant than men. White drug abusers were more antisocial, behaviorally deviant, and neurotic than Blacks, but subgroups did not differ in type of psychopathology. Interpreted in the context of other research, results suggest that there are important differences in personality, motivational, drug use, and value system characteristics between Black and White drug abusers.     

Sensation seeking, substance abuse, and psychopathology in treatment-seeking and community cocaine abusers.

Sensation seeking, substance abuse severity, and psychiatric disorders were systematically assessed in a clinical and a community sample of 335 cocaine abusers. In contrast to low-sensation-seeking cocaine abusers, high-sensation seekers exhibited more severe symptoms of substance abuse, exhibited more severe psychosocial impairment, were more likely to be polysubstance abusers, and had an earlier age of onset for substance use and abuse. High-sensation seekers were more likely to report both a lifetime history and family history of antisocial personality, attention deficit disorders and conduct disorder. Sensation seeking was related to several dimensions that are important for defining subtypes of substance abusers and was consistent with other features of a Type II classification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug Use Disorders and Personality Disorder Symptoms.

In a nonclinical sample of 395 young adults, the authors evaluated the relations between major personality traits, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) personality disorder symptoms, and DSM-IV alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Consistent with previous findings, traits related to disinhibition and negative affectivity were consistently associated with AUDs, as were Cluster B personality disorder symptoms (especially antisocial and borderline disorder symptoms). Multivariate analyses revealed that Cluster B symptoms were significantly associated with AUDs above and beyond what was accounted for by personality traits. Further, the authors found differential patterns of relations between other substance use disorders (SUDs; i.e., tobacco dependence and drug use diagnoses) and personality disorder symptoms. Overall, these results suggest that personality disorder symptoms predict unique variance in SUDs that reflect maladaptive aspects of personality traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting personality pathology among adult patients with substance use disorders: effects of childhood maltreatment

The purpose of this study was to examine predictive relationships between types of childhood maltreatment and personality disorders in a substance-abusing population. Three hundred thirty-nine drug- or alcohol-dependent patients completed a reliable and valid retrospective measure of childhood trauma, the CTQ, and a self-report inventory that assesses the entire range of DSM-III-R personality disorders, the PDQ-R. As a preliminary step, factor analyses were used to group personality disorders into the three DSM-III-R Axis II clusters (Clusters A, B, and C), although some diagnostic subclusters were also found. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed several significant paths between types of maltreatment and personality disorder clusters (and subclusters). Physical abuse and physical neglect were related to a subcluster of "psychopathic" personality disorders consisting of childhood and adult antisocial personality traits and sadistic traits. Emotional abuse emerged as a broad risk factor for personality disorders in Clusters A, B, and C. Emotional neglect was related to the traits of schizoid personality disorder, which formed its own subcluster. Finally, sexual abuse, which had been expected to predict borderline personality disorder traits, was unrelated to any personality disorder cluster. These findings support the view that child maltreatment contributes to the high prevalence of co-morbid personality disorders in addicted populations.