Locus of control and neuropsychological performance in chronic alcoholics

Abstract

Correlated neuropsychological performance and three dimensions of Locus of Control (LOC) were examined in 62 hospitalized male chronic alcoholics and 24 non‐alcoholic males drawn from the community. Performance deficits in alcoholic Ss correlated significantly with high scores on the Chance (LOC‐C) and Powerful Others (LOC‐PO) scales for approximately half of the measures employed, while no such correlations were significant in the controls. Correlations between performance and scores on the Internal (LOC‐I) scale were negligible. Controls scored significantly higher than alcoholics on the Internal dimension; Chance and Powerful Others orientation were not significantly different in the two groups. From these and other results we conclude: (a) alcoholics and controls manifest similar but not identical LOC orientations; (b) alcoholics and controls show different relationships between neuropsychological performance and LOC orientation; and (c) the correlation between LOC variables and performance in alcoholics cannot account for the widespread differences in performance levels between the two groups.

The influence of depressive symptomatology on alcoholics' Locus of control: A Methodological note and a correction

“…In studies 1 and 2, significant negative correlations were found between LOC-I and LOC-E in controls, whereas in alcoholics, these correlations were nonsignificant, which replicated the findings of Shelton et al (1982). A test of differences among these correlations averaged by the z transformation over the three studies was significant (alcoholics r(148) = -.09; controls r(98) = -3 3 ) (Z = 3.8, p < .OOOl).…”

“…The purpose of the present study was to replicate and extend the findings by Shelton et al (1982) in two new independent samples of alcoholics and controls. Specifically, we asked three questions: (1) Will alcoholics and controls show a different pattern of relatedness between the LOC-I and LOC-E dimensions?…”

“…In order to control for reading ability, the groups also were equated on either years of education and/or Shipley Verbal Age (Shipley, 1940). Except for the Shelton et al (1982) study in which alcoholics had significantly lower LOC-I scores than controls, alcoholics and controls did not differ on any of the LOC dimensions. Data from all three studies showed that alcoholics performed significantly less well than controls on the Shipley Abstracting Test.…”

“…In addition to the 62 alcoholics and 24 peer nonalcoholics from the Shelton et al (1982) study, in the new studies, 40 alcoholics and 40 controls participated in Study 1, and 48 alcoholics and 36 controls participated in Study 2. All subjects were males between the ages of 20 and 60, had at least an eighth-grade education, and had a minimum Shipley Institute of Living Vocabulary Age (Shipley, 1940) of 13.0 years (low average intelligence).…”

“…In a previous investigation performed in our laboratory (Shelton, Parsons, Leber, & Yohman, 1982), the Levenson Tridimensional LOC scale (Levenson, 1973) was administered to alcoholics and to nonalcoholic controls. This inventory, unlike Rotter's unipolar LOC scale (Rotter, 1966), allows one to assess independently the internal and external dimensions.…”