Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) personality profile and sub-typing in alcoholic patients: a controlled study.
Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) personality profile was used to compare alcohol-dependent patients with non-psychiatric control subjects, and a search made for sub-types of alcoholics with different TCI profiles, using the criteria age of onset of alcohol-related problems, paternal dependence on alcohol and familial antecedents of alcohol dependence. Alcohol-dependent patients (n = 38) were characterized by higher Novelty-Seeking [corresponding to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition) group B personality type] and lower Self-Directedness than non-psychiatric control subjects (n = 47). Lower Self-Directedness indicates a higher probability of personality disorder in the alcohol-dependent population. Only age of onset of alcohol-related problems delineated the two sub-populations with different TCI profiles: early-onset alcoholics (< or =25 years of age, n = 19), but not late-onset ones (n = 16), in comparison with control subjects, were associated with higher Novelty-Seeking. Both early and late-onset patients scored lower on Self-Directedness than control subjects. Self-Directedness and Cooperation scores were lower in early-onset than in late-onset patients. These results in part support Cloninger's typology, and the TCI data add to evidence concerning a higher probability of personality disorder in alcohol-dependent patients, particularly those with early-onset.
Basiaux
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P
Free University of Brussels, Brugmann University Hospital, Psychiatry and Medical Psychology Department, Place Van Gehuchten 4, 1020 Brussels, Belgium.
le Bon
O
O
Dramaix
M
M
Massat
I
I
Souery
D
D
Mendlewicz
J
J
Pelc
I
I
Verbanck
P
P
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013694:Temperament