Types of Drinking Patterns of Male Alcoholics

Abstract

Alcoholics differentiate between several patterns of alcoholism. The person who tends to be socially withdrawn ? when drinking is considered to be a different type of alcoholic than the person who usually drinks surrounded by people. The person who becomes hostile, aggressive and destructive when drunk is differentiated from the person who shows no such "personality change." The periodic alcoholic does not consider himself to be the same type as the steady alcoholic. The present study explored the possibility that these types have empirical validity. Responses to the Jellinek Drinking History Questionnaire and to psychological tests, as well as interview data were analyzed in an attempt to discriminate between the types. The sample consisted of 245 white, male alcoholics. It was possible to differentiate between solitary and sociable alcoholics and between belligerent and non-belligerent alcoholics, but there were few differences between periodic and steady alcoholics. Sociable and non-belligerent alcoholics have been alcoholics for a longer period of time than solitary and belligerent alcoholics. If the solitary or belligerent drinking patterns occur, they appear at the mean age for the items contained in the Scaleof Preoccupation with Alcohol, i.e., at the mid-point in the span of symptom development. The types of drinking patterns are independent of one another. Alcoholics with the solitary drinking pattern show statistically significant differences from those with a sociable pattern in their responses to 34 of the 69 items of the Jellinek Drinking Questionnaire. Alcoholics with a belligerent drinking pattern show differences from those with a non-belligerent pattern on 46 items. Both the solitary alcoholics and the belligerent alcoholics show greater preoccupation with alcohol, greater psychological pathology, more discouragement and helplessness about the possibility of controlling their drinking and more disturbed social relationships. These findings were supported by the evidence from psychological tests. There was evidence to suggest that the solitary and belligerent drinking patterns may be a response to social punishment for deviant drinking behavior. The social background characteristics examined were: highest socio-economic status; religious affiliation, church attendance, education, broken homes; absence of father from the home, absence of mother from the home, rating on the happiness of the childhood home; attitude of the mother toward drinking, attitude of the father toward drinking, extent of agreement between parents about drinking, authority in the home, preference by the child for either parent, shyness as a child and fighting as a child. Except as mentioned below, there were no statistically significant differences between those alcoholics with solitary and sociable patterns, or those with belligerent and non-belligerent patterns. Solitary alcoholics come from middle class families more frequently than do sociable alcoholics. Belligerent alcoholics tended to come more frequently than non-belligerent alcoholics from homes in which the father was foreign born, and more frequently had lost their mothers during childhood. Belligerent alcoholics began drinkingand became heavy drinkers earlier than non-belligerent alcoholics. Belligerent alcoholics more frequently than non-belligerent alcoholics admitted to easy release of aggression during childhood. The implications of these typologies for treatment and research were discussed.