[Subjective sleep disturbances and psychosocial states in long-term abstainers]

To evaluate the relation between subjective sleep disturbances and psychosocial factors in alcoholics, we studied the subjective estimate of sleep, occupation, marital status, and economic status in 210 abstainers, using check lists which were given to each patients (169 answerers, 82. 9% recovery). We also performed psychological tests of Yatabe-Guilford Personality Inventory in 145 subjects, Maudsley Personality Inventory in 115, and Cornell Medical Index in 103. The results were as follows: 1. Sleep disturbances were seen in 100 abstainers (59.2%). 2. The abstainers who had abstained for less than 2 years showed higher incidence of sleep disturbances than those who had abstained for 2 years or more (70.7% and 37.5%, respectively). 3. The abstainers with sleep disturbances were more frequently unemployed, more frequently divorced, and had lower economic status than those without sleep disturbances (69.0% vs. 36.3%, 31.0% vs. 17.4%, and 49.0% vs. 23.2%, respectively). 4. Three psychological tests suggested that abstainers with sleep disturbances had more immature and neurotic personalities. The present study suggests that the occurrence of sleep disturbances in abstainers may be relevant to their psychosocial states.