title: Pharmacological treatment for antisocial personality disorder alcoholics: a preliminary study.
abstract: A short time ago, we reported that a subgroup of hospitalized alcoholic men with comorbid antisocial personality disorder (ASP) seemed to benefit significantly from antidepressant medication at the end of a 6-month period in a double-blind, random assignment, placebo-controlled study. In a reanalysis of those data, we divided the ASP alcoholic group (n = 29) into those who did (n = 15) and who did not (n = 14) also satisfy DSM-III-R criteria for an additional current mood and/or anxiety disorder and then compared the 6-month outcomes of these two smaller subgroups. Despite the small ns, the results for most drinking outcome measures indicated: (1) that ASP alcoholics with a current mood/anxiety disorder improved significantly more with pharmacological treatment, relative to placebo; and (2) that ASP alcoholics with no current mood/anxiety disorder failed to respond differentially to pharmacological treatment over the 6-month period. These findings suggest a possibly useful and inexpensive approach to the long-term management of a very difficult-to-treat subgroup of men substance abusers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Kansas University Medical Center, Kansas City 66160-7341, USA.
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Penick
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: B I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Liskow
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Nickel
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Dale
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Laster
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Noble
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001971:Bromocriptine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015897:Comorbidity; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009661:Nortriptyline / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic; D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D001971:Bromocriptine; D009661:Nortriptyline