Psychopathology in alcohol- and cocaine-dependent patients: a comparison of findings from psychological testing

Literature on cocaine-dependent patients studied through psychological testing remains limited, while there is much on assessment of alcoholics. This study replicated previous evaluation of cocaine-dependent patients, now compared with a group of alcoholics. Seventy-eight male and 21 female cocaine dependents and 70 male and 24 female alcoholics, hospitalized in a dual diagnosis program, were administered the MMPI, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II), Rorschach, Beck Depression Inventory, and Shipley Institute of Living Scale, after a 2-week stabilization period. Test data were statistically analyzed and compared along with demographic information. Cocaine-addicted subjects were younger, more often single and Afro-American, of lower socioeconomic status, less educated, and had slightly lower intellectual functioning and lesser family occurrence of addiction than alcoholics. Patients dependent on cocaine showed statistically more distress and psychopathology. Both groups demonstrated a high occurrence of personality disorders, but with different patterns of diagnoses. Implications for further research and treatment are discussed.