[Impulsiveness as a multidimensional construct: an analysis in alcoholic patients]

Impulsiveness is multifactorial in nature; hence, to investigate its components diverse theoretical models supported by different measurement tools have been proposed. Attention has been particularly focused on the effects that impulsiveness can have in determining and/or maintaining a behaviour of dependence. In the present study a group of subjects with alcohol dependence in treatment (N = 20) were compared with a control group (N = 21); the two groups were administered three different instruments designed to investigate the dimension of impulsiveness. A significant difference was found concerning the performance on the Iowa Gambling Task. This is a test that simulates a gambling situation and so evaluates the capacity to discern, in a decisional task, advantageous vs. non-advantageous options, where the former permit an immediate modest gain but also a future modest loss while the latter carry a heavier penalty than they allow to gain, even if the gains are very big. The alcoholics persisted in making impulsive choices significantly more than the control group, preferrng thus the higher wins but risking also greater losses. This result, in line with what is reported by the present contributions on the decisional style of subjects characterized by drug abuse, may be important in understanding the factors that predispose to and maintain excessive drinking behaviour.