Introduction: Depressive symptoms frequently co-occur in alcohol dependence. However, little is known about the relationship between depressive symptoms and personality functioning in alcohol dependence.
Aims: The aim of this study was to reveal the role of depressive symptoms in the adaptivity of personality functioning. Therefore, alcohol-dependent patients with and without depressive symptoms, depressed patients and normal controls were compared along the personality factors of the biosocial model.
Methods: Depressed patients (N=57), alcohol-dependent individuals with (N=41) and without (N=41) depressive symptoms, and normal controls (N=55) were involved. The Beck Depression Inventory was administered to determine the severity of depressive symptoms. Subjects were tested using Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised, which measures 4 temperament: novelty-seeking (NS); harm avoidance (HA); reward dependence (RD); persistence (P) and 3 character dimensions: self-directedness (SD); cooperativeness (C); self-transcendence (ST).
Results: Alcohol-dependent groups showed higher level of NS than depressed and control subjects (F=6.33, p< 0.001). Alcohol addicted patients with depressive symptoms and depressed individuals scored higher level of HA than the other groups (F=21.41, p< 0.001). In the case of P the lowest score was observed among alcohol-dependent individuals with depressive symptoms (F=3.63, p=0.014). On the SD (F=25.25, p< 0.001) and C (F=3.61, p=0.014) all 3 patient groups showed significantly lower scores than normal controls.
Conclusion: Based on the severity of depressive symptoms, alcohol addicted persons show different personality profile. Our results suggest that depressive symptoms are related to maladaptive personality functioning in alcohol dependence; therefore it has to be considered during the treatment process.
TÁMOP-4.2.1/B-09/1/KONV-2010-0005
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