Relationships between neuropsychological and psychopathological dimensions in male alcoholics

A study was conducted of the relationships between psychopathology and neuropsychological deficit in chronic alcoholic patients who had received the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery, and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). Classification of the MMPIs by code type resulted in the formation of groups of 10 subjects with normal MMPIs, 19 subjects with MMPI profiles suggestive of depression, and 10 subjects with profiles suggestive of psychosis. Analysis of covariance was performed for various Halstead-Reitan scores; the only significant findings emerged for several of the verbal subtests of the WAIS. The group with psychotic MMPIs did substantially more poorly on these measures than the other groups. It was concluded that depressed alcoholics do not show greater neuropsychological deficit than do individuals with no significant psychopathology other than alcoholism. However, alcoholics with MMPI profiles that suggest psychosis differ from the other groups studied with regard to certain verbal abilities.