The functioning of personality and the success of group psychotherapy of alcoholics

The aim of this study was to investigate in what way the outcome of treatment could be influenced by some traits of personality and its functioning, described in psychological literature as "ego strength". Here, one has to take into account the difficulties in studying the complex process of treatment involving numerous personality and environmental factors, which cannot be separated and observed, measured and assessed as isolated values. Therefore, conclusions about the influence of personality strength on the outcome of treatment have a relevant but not absolute significance. The authors presumed that one of the reasons for the unfavourable outcome of treatment was to be found in the alcoholic's personality system. They tested this presumption on samples of successfully and unsuccessfully treated alcoholics, who received the same treatment, and on a control group. As a measuring instrument for assessing the effectiveness of the personality system, Barron's Ego Strength Scale was used. The study showed that the group of unsuccessfully treated alcoholics had statistically significant lower scores on the ES scale, and that they differed from the successfully treated group. Between successfully treated alcoholics and the control group there were no statistically significant ES Scale differences. The study has indicated that it would be appropriate to use ES Scale before beginning the treatment of alcoholics. Thus in the treatment of those with lower scores, additional attention and activities could be devoted to other systems, those of family and work, within the general system of "man-environment", in order to compensate for the relative inadequacy of the personality system.