title: Personality disorder and chronicity of addiction as independent outcome predictors in alcoholism treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A prospective four-year study examined which components of addiction severity predicted time to relapse among 112 adults with chronic alcoholism who participated in a comprehensive outpatient treatment program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Recruited from emergency, inpatient, and outpatient facilities, patients were admitted into the program consecutively between March 1998 and June 2002. Alcohol abstinence was carefully monitored for four years from admission by regular contacts and urine and blood analyses. Alcoholism characteristics and personality disorders were assessed with structured interviews and the International Diagnostic Checklists for Personality Disorders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among a variety of potential variables, only presence of a personality disorder and chronicity of addiction were independently associated with a decrease of cumulative four-year abstinence probability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Their high predictive values suggest that chronicity and personality disorder rank among the most important characteristics of addiction severity.
authors: Division of Clinical Neuroscience at the Max-Planck-Institute of Experimental Medicine in Goettingen, Germany.
authors: Henning
authors: H
authors: Krampe
authors: Thilo
authors: T
authors: Wagner
authors: Sabina
authors: S
authors: Stawicki
authors: Claudia
authors: C
authors: Bartels
authors: Carlotta
authors: C
authors: Aust
authors: Birgit
authors: B
authors: Kroener-Herwig
authors: Heinrich
authors: H
authors: Kuefner
authors: Hannelore
authors: H
authors: Ehrenreich