The Multiple, Distinct Ways that Personality Contributes to Alcohol Use Disorders

Abstract

There is little question of whether personality is associated with problematic alcohol involvement (such as alcohol use disorders; AUDs); it clearly is. However, the question remains: how or why is personality related to risky drinking and AUDs? To address this question, theoretical models have been posited regarding the causal effects of personality on alcohol use and related problems. In this article, several of these models are summarized and reviewed. Future research directions are discussed, including possible frameworks that serve to integrate various models of the personality-AUD relation. Keywordspersonality; alcohol use disorders; drinking motives Does personality relate to pathological alcohol use? This question has long been a focus of substance use researchers and clinicians. Though the identification of an "addictive personality" (i.e., a specific configuration of personality characteristics linked to addictive behaviors) has largely been abandoned, numerous studies demonstrate links between specific personality traits and problematic alcohol involvement. More specifically, though traits related to impulsivity/disinhibition appear to demonstrate the most robust and consistent relation with alcohol involvement, all Five-Factor traits (i.e., openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) have been shown to correspond, with varying degrees of consistency, to alcohol use and outcomes (see Sher, Barthalow, & Vieth [1999] for a review of papers linking personality to alcohol use disorders [AUDs] and Malouff, Thorsteinsson, Rooke, & Schutte [2007] for a recent metaanalysis that suggests, among Five-Factor traits, only conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism are significantly linked to alcohol involvement, and Trull & Sher [1994] for an alternative analytic approach involving personality and AUDs). Thus, the question of whether personality is associated with problematic alcohol involvement (such as alcohol use disorders; AUDs) can be clearly answered: yes! What remains to be addressed is how or why personality relates to risky drinking and AUDs. Understanding the mechanisms of how broad personality traits such as neuroticism influence mental and physical health has recently been identified as "top priority for research" (Lahey, 2009), and the relation between personality and AUDs is no exception. Though personality and AUDs could be, logically, linked in a variety of ways (e.g., personality could influence

Impulsivity and Alcohol Involvement: Multiple, Distinct Constructs and Processes

“…There are several issues to consider regarding the literature involving impulsivity-like traits, drinking motives, and alcohol involvement [8]. Manifest measures of personality and drinking motives tend to show small to medium correlations [46, 49], which suggests that these traits account for only a small proportion of variance in drinking motives.…”

“…Further, studies using intensive-repeated measures (such as daily-diary studies) have generally not found empirical support that global drinking motives moderate within-person mood-drinking relations [52, 53], although very recent evidence from ecological momentary assessment data showed that endorsing enhancement motives was uniquely associated with finding drinks to be pleasurable, whereas endorsing coping motives was associated with finding drinks to alleviate negative symptoms [54]. Finally, although it is beyond the scope of this review, traits broadly related to impulsivity have also been indicators of “pharmacological vulnerability” to alcohol (e.g., traits may moderate the extent to which alcohol dampens stress or impacts affect [7, 8]).…”

The relationship between the UPPS-P impulsive personality traits and substance use psychotherapy outcomes: A meta -analysis

“…For example, negative and positive urgency are most highly related to problematic alcohol use, negative urgency and lack of premeditation are most highly related to alcohol dependence, and lack of perseverance is most highly related to drinking quantity (Coskunpinar et al, 2013). Overall, higher impulsive personality trait scores correspond to higher quantities of substance use (e.g., Littlefield and Sher, 2010). Importantly, research indicates that impulsive personality developmentally precedes substance use (e.g., Littlefield et al, 2012; Guller et al, 2015) and is likely a prime risk factor for SUDs.…”

The Associations between Self-Consciousness, Depressive State and Craving to Drink among Alcohol Dependent Patients Undergoing Protracted Withdrawal

“…Indeed, by using self-reporting questionnaires to examine drinking motivation (or craving), several authors have found positive correlations between depressive state and craving for alcohol during withdrawal treatment [6], [15]. Furthermore, more recent research has also found relations between personality traits and craving [9], [16]. In particular, self-consciousness (SC), a trait which refers to the propensity to direct ones attention to the self has been found to be related to negative affects and alcohol-drinking [17].…”