Differences in developmental experience, defensiveness, and personality organization between two classes of problem drinkers.

Family background, personality data, and defensive behavior were studied to test the Knight distinction between 2 kinds of alcoholics: essential and reactive. Data analysis supported the predictions. The findings has implications for research which attempts to study the problem of alcoholism but without making a necessary distinction regarding their Ss. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4JK59R. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)