Low persistence predicts relapse in alcohol dependence following treatment

To investigate the relationship between personality measures and alcohol dependence relapse in a treatment sample of men with alcohol dependence.

Alcohol dependent men (N = 87) without a primary diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, recruited consecutively from a 3-week abstinence-focused therapeutic program, along with informants, completed the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Personality Disorders (self-report questionnaire) (SCID-PQ) and the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) and were followed-up for 6 months. Drinking outcomes were based on multiple sources of data and subjects categorized as relapsed or not. Personality was investigated according to traditional DSM-III-R/DSM-IV clusters, as well as conduct disorder and obsessionality separately, in addition to the four major temperament dimensions of the TPQ.

Cluster B personality disorder symptoms, conduct disorder symptoms and novelty seeking were not associated with relapse. However, the temperament trait of persistence predicted relapse.

Personality features associated with onset of alcohol dependence do not appear to be the same as those associated with relapse in a sample of alcohol dependent men that excludes severe antisocial personality disorder. It is speculated that what might be considered low motivation when applied to alcohol dependent patients who relapse following treatment, may in part reflect low persistence, a personality trait.