Alcoholic Subtypes and the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale

Abstract

Forty-five alcoholics in treatment (29 males and 16 females) who reported substantial alcohol dependence but scored in the nonalcoholic range on the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC) were matched with 45 alcoholics who reported a similar degree of alcohol dependence and obtained alcoholic-range scores on the MAC. Results reveal that high MAC alcoholics were characterized by gregariousness, social drinking, belligerence and aggression while drinking, and a high degree of alcohol-related legal problems. Low MAC alcoholics appeared to be a different or less distinctive type of alcoholic; although they were less outgoing and preferred not to drink with others, they experienced a wide range of serious alcohol-related consequences. Low MAC alcoholics were not more likely to have a history of nonsubstance use psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. Cloninger, Bohman, and Sigvardsson's (1981) alcoholic typology was related to MAC scores: There was a greater likelihood that high-MAC alcoholics were Type II and low MAC alcoholics Type I.

Age of Onset as a Discriminator Between Alcoholic Subtypes in a Treatment‐Seeking Outpatient Population

“…Subjects who satisfied study inclusion/exclusion criteria received an extensive psychopathological evaluation. The psychopathological scales included items hypothesized to differentiate early from late onset alcoholics such as: antisocial personality, 1,2 personality adjustment, 16 childhood behavior, 5 age of onset, 7,8,11 self‐reported alcohol consumption, 2,4 and hostility 1,2 . We also included measures of alcohol‐related behaviors and craving, addiction severity, general mood, social functioning, and overt aggression (i.e., violence) to ensure that the psychopathological profile was comprehensive.…”

“…An early age onset of alcoholism has been associated with an excess of these traits 2 . The MacAndrew scale (MAC) 16 was used to measure personality traits. In alcoholics, high MAC scores have been associated with impulsivity, gregariousness, high sensation seeking, and an early onset of alcoholism.…”

Psychometric tests and a complex assessment of the course of alcohol dependence

“…The mild and medium positive correlations between NS and the indirect indicators of severity (APS and MAC-R) show that a higher NS accompanies a greater risk of the development of lifestyle and personality characteristics related to addictive behaviour. ADPs with higher MAC-R scores are more likely to be characterized by antisocial features and can be associated with the Cloninger type II earlier-onset AD (Svanum and Ehrmann, 1992). In this study, a higher HA was negatively associated with the MAC-R score, indicating that HA is negatively related to the antisocial characteristics of AD.…”

“…The significant positive correlation between P and the MAC-R score indicates that ADPs with higher P demonstrate more pronounced antisocial characteristics and a higher tendency to risk-taking and social drinking (Svanum and Ehrmann, 1992). NS is one of the most powerful predictors of future alcohol abuse in adolescents (George et al, 2010) and it determines heavy drinking patterns in the teenage years (Laucht et al, 2007).…”

“…A higher score on the MAC-R indicates a higher level of alcohol-related belligerence and aggression, together with problems with the authorities. Furthermore, an elevated MAC-R score is associated with drinking patterns and especially with a higher preference for social drinking (Svanum and Ehrmann, 1992).…”