ABSTRACT
Testing of alcoholics and matched controls on a series of psychological measures and retesting approximately 14 months later showed improvement in alcoholics' problem-solving abilities, but not to the level of controls. Improvement was not related to posttreatment drinking behavior.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism/psychology , Cognition Disorders/etiology , Alcohol Drinking , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Investigated the utility of subtests from the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale and the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery to differentiate between alcoholics and nonalcoholics (N = 76). Analyses of variance indicated that the alcoholics were more impaired than nonalcoholics. It was found that the Wechsler-Bellevue Performance subtests were more discriminative than were Verbal subtests, with performance on the Halstead-Reitan variables being intermediate. The nine measures that differentiated most significantly between groups were subjected to a stepwise multivariate discriminant analysis. The resulting function correctly classified Ss with an overall accuracy of 74.7%. It was found that the Block Design subtest was the best single discriminator. The findings were discussed in relationship to previous findings and with respect to general issues of clinical neuropsychological assessment.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism/psychology , Psychological Tests , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Psychometrics , Statistics as Topic , Trail Making Test , Wechsler ScalesABSTRACT
In a follow-up study of alcoholic patients, those with higher levels of denial had lower rates of rehospitalization and higher rates of treatment completion than those who relied on other defense mechanisms.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism/therapy , Defense Mechanisms , Adult , Counseling , Denial, Psychological , Employment , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Patient Dropouts , Patient Readmission , Psychotherapy, Group , Therapeutic CommunityABSTRACT
Cognitive recovery among male alcoholics and controls was investigated with the Trail-Making Test as an index of cognitive impairment. The test was administered twice to all Ss with an interval of approximately 1 year between testings. A reported measures analysis of variance showed that the controls performed significantly better than the alcoholics at both administrations, although the alcoholics did improve between the pre-and posttests. Reported drinking episodes that occurred between the pre-and posttests appeared to have no effect on cognitive recovery in the alcoholic group when relapsed and abstinent subgroups were compared.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism/rehabilitation , Cognition Disorders/rehabilitation , Psychological Tests , Trail Making Test , Adult , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Comparison of alcoholics' and controls' Brain-Age Quotients and performance on various educational and problem-solving variables indicated that the alcoholics were comparable to the controls in verbal ability but were deficient in problem-solving ability.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism/complications , Hospitalization , Problem Solving/drug effects , Verbal Behavior/drug effects , Ethanol/pharmacology , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Touch/drug effects , Trail Making Test , Wechsler ScalesABSTRACT
After testing with the Controlled Repression-Sensitization Scale, 38 alcoholics were found to place greater reliance on sensitizing defenses than nonalcoholics. A test of the Defense Mechanism Inventory found no differences between alcoholics and controls.
