A typology of alcohol abusers: Correlates and implications.
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Used data from 725 individuals (mean age 38.1 yrs) seeking help for alcohol-related problems who had been administered the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test; the Social Readjustment Rating Scale; the Personality Research Form; Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale; the Standard Progressive Matrices; the Vocabulary and Digit Symbol subscales of the WAIS; and measures of alcohol use, lifetime drinking history, basic personality, SES variables, and response styles to cluster analyze for types of drinkers. Analysis yielded 3 types: Type 1 Ss (early-stage problem drinkers) represented a fairly heterogeneous group, Type 2 Ss (affiliative, moderately dependent drinkers) were more socially oriented and drank on a daily basis, and Type 3 Ss (schizoid, severely dependent drinkers) were socially isolative, tended to drink in binges, and reported the most severe symptoms of alcoholism. A speculative model is proposed that consists of the 3 types superimposed on an underlying continuum of alcohol dependence; it is suggested that the model has heuristic value for stimulating further research on the etiology and differential treatment of alcohol abuse. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). 1984 American Psychological Association.
