The impact of temperament in the course of alcohol dependence

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of temperamental traits in alcohol dependent patients on the course of illness.

The case files of 116 alcohol dependent patients, according to ICD-10 and DSM-IV-TR, were examined retrospectively. All patients were in treatment between 02/08 and 03/09 at the Psychiatric Department of the General Hospital Vienna, either at the alcohol outpatient clinic or the psychiatric ward, which has the treatment focus on alcohol dependence. The brief TEMPS-M auto-questionnaire was used to assess the temperamental distribution. The dimensions of alcohol dependence have been assessed using the Lesch Alcoholism Typology, a computerized structured interview. The potential effect of temperamental scores on various outcomes describing the course of illness is investigated using multi-variable regression models.

Cyclothymic score was the only temperament which significantly influenced the age of onset of alcohol abuse and age of onset of alcohol dependence. Backward selection among temperaments exhibits depressive temperament as most important effect regarding the likelihood of suicide-attempts in the patient's case history and anxious temperament as most important effect regarding having psychiatric treatment focusing on alcohol dependence prior to current in- or outpatient stay.

The sample size of this study is small compared to the number of investigated outcomes and temperaments. Further, a healthy control group, matched for age and gender, was not available for comparison of the temperament sub-scores.

Dominant cyclothymic, but also depressive and anxious temperament, seem to be negative predictors for the course of illness in alcohol dependence. Regarding positive long term outcome specific evidence based medical treatment approaches are needed for these patients.