Diagnostic interactions. Alcoholism and antisocial personality.

The association of alcoholism with other psychiatric disorders is important from both a research and a therapeutic point of view. In a medically hospitalized inpatient sample, we found a strong relationship between alcoholism and antisocial personality. Controlling for the overlap of diagnostic symptomatology, antisocial subjects still had a significantly higher prevalence of alcoholism than nonantisocial. The antisocial individual was more likely to be exposed to problem drinking, and once exposed, he tended to be more susceptible to developing the full alcoholism syndrome. Gender and a family history of problem drinking also predicted alcoholism. Characterological and neurophysiological correlates of antisocial personality and their relationship to problem drinking are discussed.