Locus of control and neuropsychological performance in chronic alcoholics

Correlated neuropsychological performance and three dimensions of Locus of Control (LOC) were examined in 62 hospitalized male chronic alcoholics and 24 non-alcoholic males drawn from the community. Performance deficits in alcoholic Ss correlated significantly with high scores on the Chance (LOC-C) and Powerful Others (LOC-PO) scales for approximately half of the measures employed, while no such correlations were significant in the controls. Correlations between performance and scores on the Internal (LOC-I) scale were negligible. Controls scored significantly higher than alcoholics on the Internal dimension; Chance and Powerful Others orientation were not significantly different in the two groups. From these and other results we conclude: (a) alcoholics and controls manifest similar but not identical LOC orientations; (b) alcoholics and controls show different relationships between neuropsychological performance and LOC orientation; and (c) the correlation between LOC variables and performance in alcoholics cannot account for the widespread differences in performance levels between the two groups.