Adult Alcoholics Research Articles

An examination of the relevance of the individual differences (a-trait) formulation of the tension-reduction theory to the etiology of alcohol abuse in young males

An 11-item factor labeled Emotional Tension was recently located within a pool of 24 items which had been found to differentiate both adult male alcoholics and nonsubstance- abusing adult male psychiatric outpatients from putatively normal male adults and college students in a highly significant fashion. The item-unit-weighted scores on this factor of the following five male samples were compared: young alcohol offenders, adult outpatient alcoholics, young and adult nonsubstance-abusing psychiatric outpatients, and an unselected run of college students. While the scores of the young nonsubstance-abusing psychiatric outpatients were found to be indistinguishable from those of both adult patient groups, the scores of the young alcohol offenders were indistinguishable from those of college students. Scores on a similarly located, 11-item factor of Depression yielded identical results.

The Bristol Social Adjustment Guide: comparison between the offspring of alcoholic and non-alcoholic mothers.

A German translation of the BSAG was completed by class-teachers of children whose mothers had a history of alcoholism. These children were judged as showing significantly more over-reactive behaviour in school than a control group of children whose mothers had no previous alcohol abuse. Furthermore, the alcoholic mothers also reported more over-active behaviour in their own childhood. The results are supportive of retrospective studies with adult alcoholics which indicate that childhood hyperactivity may be one precursor of subsequent alcohol abuse.

Reminiscence, Self-Esteem and Self-Other Satisfaction in Adult Male Alcoholics

Reminiscence, Self-Esteem and Self-Other Satisfaction in Adult Male Alcoholics

Alcohol-related problems in adolescents and women.

In the roles of student and homemaker, youthful and female problem drinkers can easily hide alcoholism. Compared with adult male alcoholics, their intake of alcohol is less but they are more likely to use other drugs concomitantly. An understanding of their unique characteristics will help the physician recognize patients in these groups with alcohol-related problems.

Purpose in life and personal values among adult alcoholics.

Ideas of purpose and meaning in life, religious or spiritual values, belief in a Higher Power, and related constructs often play an important role in traditional alcoholism rehabilitation approaches, but very few data are available. Consequently, 49 males and 8 females in a 30-day inpatient treatment program for alcoholics were given the Purpose in Life (PIL) test and Study of Values (SOV) shortly after admission to the hospital and again just before discharge. Results indicated: (1) significant increases in PIL scores; (2) no significant dissimilarities between alcoholics and normals on the SPV; and (3) significant correlations between PIL and the Aesthetic and Religious scales of the SOV on the second administration only. Results were discussed in terms of future directions for research and implications for treatment.

The performance of adult alcoholics working for alcohol: a detailed operant analysis.

AbstractEight chronic alcoholics served as subjects in a residential facility. They were required to make a simple repetitious response in order to earn points exchangeable for social, appetitive, and alcohol reinforcers. Over the course of this project, rates of responding for points on two schedules of reinforcement were observed as were patterns of drinking, working, sleeping, and socializing; the effects of alcohol on the subject's performance; and the influences of alcohol as a reinforcer. The foldings indicated by the detailed analysis provided by the methodology were not in complete agreement with some of the more coarsely analyzed data of similar experiments, e.g. the subjects worked for points during episodes of drinking more often than not. Additionally, new findings were shown, e.g., the subjects did not save points ahead but worked and drank in a “hand‐to‐mouth” manner in relatively short drinking and working cycles. Finally, many of the findings were in agreement with data reported earlier by other authors. Some implications for the control of alcoholic behavior are discussed.

The impact of number and type of models on claimed success rate and mood of adult alcoholics.

Summary One hundred and twenty alienated alcoholics were exposed to high and low status models claiming task success rates of 25% or 50%. The effects of such modeling on the subjects' claimed task success and mood were complex. Subjects exposed to a two-peer 2.5% rate increased their claimed task success on two tasks and decreased their depressive mood. Subjects exposed to a single-peer 50% rate changed only mood scores apparently due to rejection of the model (Semantic Differential). Overall findings suggest that behavioral changes produced appropriate mood changes and that modeling of modest success rates can produce these changes.

The Treatment of Adult Alcoholics and Teen-Age Drug Addicts in One Hospital; A Comparison and Critical Appraisal of Factors Related to Outcome

In an open-type hospital where good success had been experienced with middle- and upper-class alcoholics, adolescent drug addicts from the same classes failed to respond to the same psychotherapeutic program. The results are analyzed in terms of the different personality and motivational characteristics of the two groups.