Personality traits in relation to alcohol dependence and abuse and psychiatric comorbidity among women: a population-based study.
This study investigates relationships between personality traits, alcohol dependence and abuse (ADA), and psychiatric comorbidity in a general population sample of women. The study is based on data from a previous study by this group titled "Women and Alcohol in Göteborg." Altogether, 316 women were interviewed. Personality traits were assessed with the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) and lifetime psychiatric diagnoses given according to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Revised Edition (DSM-III-R). Compared with the reference group, women with a lifetime diagnoses of ADA were more anxious, tense, socially conformist, impulsive, and irritable. They were also more easily fatigued, and less satisfied with their present life situation and childhood experiences. This was more marked among women with current ADA than in women with resolved ADA. Women with other psychiatric diagnoses resembled women with ADA, according to the KSP. The results indicate that personality interacts with all diagnoses included, and possibly influences the development of ADA.
Department of Social Medicine, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden. anette.ostlund@socmed.gu.se
Anette
A
Ostlund
Fredrik
F
Spak
Valter
V
Sundh
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011594:Psychometrics; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden