Temperament Style and Substance Abuse Characteristics.

The relationship of temperament to different patterns and types of alcohol abuse has received much attention over the last decade in order to provide clues to matching patients optimally to treatment strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of temperament with a number of relevant substance abuse characteristics in a substance abusing population. One hundred forty-five male veterans were interviewed on their lifetime use of substances and on their psychiatric symptoms, problems associated with use, context, and family history of substance abuse. Subjects filled out the TPQ and the MPQ, which were subjected to factor analysis and revealed four factors: (1) Negative Affectivity/Impulsivity, (2) Positive Affectivity/Sociability, (3) Persistence/Achievement, and (4) Constraint. There was partial support for the hypotheses. Impulsivity was negatively correlated with age of onset and positively correlated with substance-related problems and a family history of substance abuse. Subjects with a history of depression scored significantly lower on the Positive Affectivity/Sociability factor than those who had not experienced a significant depression. Individuals who used alone scored lower on this factor than those who used in social contexts. The temperament factors of Persistence/Achievement and Constraint were, for the most part, unrelated to substance abuse.