Personality Profile and Short-term Treatment Outcome in Patients with Alcohol Dependence: A Study from South India

Abstract

Background:Studying personality profiles allows researchers to generate important hypotheses in risk factors and correlates of alcohol use/misuse. Studies examining the association between personality traits and treatment outcome are limited in India. We studied the correlation between personality and treatment outcome in patients with alcohol dependence.Methods:Adult participants with alcohol dependence were recruited from the inpatient and outpatient wards of de-addiction unit of a tertiary care facility in India using a prospective design and followed up after 3 months. Questionnaires administered were revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI-R), alcohol use disorders identification test, and advanced warning of alcohol relapse (AWARE).Results:Out of 99 recruited participants (92% males) with mean age of 37 (±8.36) years, 82 (82.8%) patients were followed up to 3 months. E4 (activity) facet of the extraversion domain in the NEO-PI-R significantly correlated with the baseline drinking scores (r = 0.204, P = 0.042, n = 99) and AWARE scores (r = 0.276, P = 0.043, n = 54). There was a significant negative correlation between the E2 (gregariousness) facet and satisfaction with life scores (r = −0.211, P = 0.036, n = 99). Age at first drink was significantly lower among relapsers (P = 0.021).Conclusion:Our study suggests that factors related to extraversion, specifically, high activity might be associated with higher drinking as well as higher risk of alcohol relapse. Predicting alcohol relapse by studying the personality traits would help clinicians in improving treatment outcomes.

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“…Individuals with lower levels of extraversion presented higher difficulty in social interaction. Thus, the use of these substances can be reinforced since it enables social interactions (Soundararajan et al, 2017). These personality characteristics are possibly considered risk factors for substance use, considering their connection with impulsive behaviors, lack of inhibitory control, and lack of planning.…”

“…However, few studies have investigated personality traits and psychopathological symptoms in substance users (Martínez-Loredo et al, 2021), particularly in outpatient treatment with a different clinical profile from patients admitted to psychiatric units. The literature presents studies focusing on the treatment of inpatients (Soundararajan et al, 2017), the majority including patients undergoing involuntary treatment (García-Marchena et al, 2018). Thus, this study aimed to characterize personality traits of adults with substance use disorders, in order to verify the association between personality traits, psychopathological symptoms, and impulsivity in substance users in outpatient treatment, and to investigate the predictive value of personality traits for the manifestation of psychopathological symptoms and impulsivity.…”

Prevalence and correlates of personality disorders in males with alcohol dependence syndrome undergoing inpatient treatment in a tertiary care hospital in South India

“…Several reports have highlighted the role of PDs in the treatment outcome of alcohol-dependent patients. [ 2 , 3 , 16 ] One recent meta-analysis[ 17 ] did not find any difference in treatment outcomes of alcohol-dependent patients with and without PDs. However, the authors have reported the quality of evidence of all the included studies to be low or very low.…”

Integrating Personality Functioning in Brief Psychotherapy for Substance Use Disorders

“…Research on poor treatment utilization/retention and mechanisms to enhance access and compliance might help improve this treatment gap (Tripathi et al, 2020). Studies across Indian and global contexts show personality impairments as highly comorbid with SUDs (Köck & Walter, 2018; Soundararajan et al, 2017). They play a role in the initiation and maintenance of SUDs, and can predict poor treatment response, early dropouts, frequent lapses and shorter abstinence periods (Kienast et al, 2014;Minkoff, 2016).…”