Examination of the tridimensional personality hypothesis of alcoholism using empirically multivariate typology

Cloninger (1987) has hypothesized a tridimensional personality theory for two types of alcoholism, type 1 and type 2, that exhibit opposing clinical characteristics and personality traits. The Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) is designed to test this hypothesis on three independent dimensions--novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), and reward dependence (RD)--to evaluate the personality trait. We examined the tridimensional personality hypothesis by comparing TPQ scores between two empirically derived multivariate types of alcoholism. The present study included 191 male subjects with alcoholism. A cluster analysis was conducted using clinical characteristics, and two empirical types, type A and type B, were identified. Type A is similar to Cloninger's type 1 and type B is similar to type 2. The TPQ scores given to these two empirical types were compared. Scores on the NS and RD scales were in good agreement with the hypothesis, whereas the HA score was discordant with the hypothesis. HA is highly correlated with the depression scale score that is elevated in type B. We discussed the possibility that type B, which may be called a familial early-onset alcoholism, is related to character spectrum disorder.