Personality and disinhibitory psychopathology: Alcoholism and antisocial personality disorder.

Abstract

We discuss the relation between personality factors and two adult forms of disinhibitory psychopathology--alcohol abuse or dependence and antisocial personality disorder. First, we briefly review various methodological issues relevant to research in this area. Next, we review empirical findings relating three broad-band personality trait dimensions neuroticism/emotionality, impulsivity/disinhibition, extraversion/sociability) to both alcohol abuse and dependence and antisocial personality disorder. Finally, theoretical models of the relationship between personality and each of these two disorders are presented. We conclude that although no single personality description is likely to be both a sensitive and specific indicator of either alcoholism or antisocial personality disorder, personality variables are important components of etiological models of these disorders.

Acute disinhibiting effects of alcohol as a factor in risky driving behavior

“…Impulsivity is thought to contribute to the risk of behavioral disinhibition under alcohol (Fillmore, 2007;Finn et al, 1994;Sher and Trull, 1994). Participants rated 30 different statements (e.g., "I do things without thinking") in terms of how typical each statement is for them on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from Rarely/Never to Almost Always/Always.…”

A genome wide search for alcoholism susceptibility genes

“…There is abundant evidence that alcohol dependence is a clinically heterogeneous disorder, varying in its age of onset, prevalence by gender, developmental course, and severity [Sher and Trull, 1994;Hill, 1995bHill, , 2000Finn et al, 1997;Hill and Yuan, 1999]. As in all studies of complex diseases, defining phenotypes that accurately reflect the underlying genetic susceptibility is critical for uncovering susceptibility genes.…”

“…Personality variation has also been implicated in the diathesis for alcohol dependence. Several characteristics have been suggested including negative affectivity and neuroticism [see Sher and Trull, 1994 for review], alienation [Hill et al, 1990b], and disinhibition/impulsivity [Sher et al, 1991] in offspring of alcoholics. We have found higher scores on the extraversion scale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) predicts adolescent age of onset to begin regular drinking among high-risk offspring [Hill and Yuan, 1999;Hill et al, 2000b].…”

Behavioural Stimulation and Sensation-Seeking among prisoners: Applications to substance dependency

“…Specifically, impulsivity was distinct from sensationseeking, thus failing to support any suggestion that impulsivity was intrinsically related to this concept (e.g. Acton, 2003;Depue & Collins, 1999;Kelly et al, 2006;Moeller et al 2002;Sher & Trull, 1994;Zuckerman et al, 1993) and/or was an adult-form of sensation-seeking (Clayton, Segress & Caudill, 2007). Thus, in samples where there are known to be increased levels of sensation-seeking and impulsivity (e.g.…”

“…Acton, 2003;;Ersche, et al, 2010;Moeller et al 2002), openness to experience and extraversion (Grekin, Sher & Wood, 2006), with considerable cross-over across these constructs (Depue & Collins, 1999;Kelly et al, 2006;Sher & Trull, 1994;Zuckerman et al, 1993). For example, some researchers have suggested that extraversion is an indirect test of sensation-seeking (Sher & Trull, 1994), with impulsivity a reconceptualised 'adult' form of sensation-seeking (Clayton, Segress & Caudill, 2007). This poses the question as to whether these constructs are distinct, or if they are in fact best described as a single more unified personality concept of particular relevance to substance use.…”