Relating the Five-Factor Model of personality and severity of alcoholism

This study extends previous findings in moderate alcoholics to severe alcoholic inpatients, suggesting that alcoholics can be characterized along certain normal personality dimensions (high Neuroticism, low Conscientiousness, low Agreeableness) regardless of severity. Personality variables distinguishing alcoholics from a healthy population are examined to evaluate their utility in identifying which individuals experience greater severity in a model controlling for age of alcoholism onset. Neuroticism appears to be associated with greater severity particularly when examining the socioemotional consequences of alcoholism, suggesting that personality does matter in the prediction of severity even beyond age of onset. While this study is correlational in nature and cannot directly address causal mechanisms, it does add to the growing literature suggesting that personality, particularly Neuroticism, has a strong role in and influence over various aspects of alcoholism. Furthermore, understanding alcoholism in terms of personality processes such as Neuroticism may provide another avenue of treatment opportunities to clinicians.