Impulsivity in abstinent alcohol-dependent patients: relation to control subjects and type 1–/type 2–like traits

doi:10.1016/j.alcohol.2004.06.012

Alcohol

Volume 34, Issues 2–3, October–November 2004, Pages 133-150

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2004.06.012 Get rights and content

Abstract

Extensive literature has linked behavior control problems in childhood to risk for alcoholism, but impulsivity in alcohol-dependent adults has not been well characterized. Using a variety of laboratory measures of impulsivity, we assessed whether detoxified alcohol-dependent patients [(ADP); n = 130] were more impulsive than control subjects [(CS); n = 41]. In comparison with CS, ADP demonstrated (1) increased rates of commission errors, but not omission errors, in a continuous performance test, (2) a more severe devaluation of delayed reward, (3) increased rates of risky responses in a new risk-taking paradigm, and (4) higher psychometric scores of impulsivity and aggression. Across all subjects, aggressiveness correlated significantly with severity of delay discounting. A post hoc analysis of data obtained for male ADP indicated that, in comparison with patients with late onset of problem drinking and no problem-drinking parent, those ADP with earlier age of problem drinking and who reported a problem-drinking father (type 2–like alcohol dependence) demonstrated faster response latencies and more responses to non-target stimuli (commission errors) in the continuous performance test, as well as higher psychometric aggression. In contrast, these subtypes of male ADP did not differ in delay discounting and risk taking. These findings collectively indicate that, in comparison with CS, ADP are more impulsive in several dimensions, with elevated impulsivity in a working memory task as well as aggressivity characteristic of alcohol-dependent men with type 2–like features.

Section snippets

General discussion

Analysis 1 and Analysis 2 revealed two key findings. First, in comparison with CS, ADP in general showed increased impulsivity in several dimensions, including poorer behavior control in a rapid stimulus-evaluation task (IMT/DMT), more severe devaluation of reward with delay to presentation (delay discounting), increased risky responding (RTT), and markedly higher scores on impulsivity and aggression questionnaire measures. Analysis of behavioral data alone successfully identified the majority

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Donald Dougherty for donation of the IMT/DMT task, Dr. Suzanne Mitchell for donation of the delay-discounting task, Dr. Terry Allen for programming assistance on the risk-taking task, and Mr. Christopher Geyer for patient recruitment. J.M.B. was supported by a PRAT fellowship from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and the research was supported by NIAAA intramural research funding.

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ArticleImpulsivity in abstinent alcohol-dependent patients: relation to control subjects and type 1–/type 2–like traits

Abstract

Section snippets

General discussion

Acknowledgments

Addict Behav

Biol Psychiatry

Biol Psychiatry

Neuropsychologia

Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol

Addict Behav

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

Psychiatry Res

Biol Psychiatry

Drug Alcohol Depend

Neuropsychologia

Addict Behav

Addict Behav

Drug Alcohol Depend

Drug Alcohol Depend

Psychiatry Res

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

Drug Alcohol Depend

Neuropsychopharmacology

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

Biol Psychiatry

Biol Psychiatry

Specious reward: a behavioral theory of impulsiveness and impulse control

Psychol Bull

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Types of alcoholics. I. Evidence for an empirically derived typology based on indicators of vulnerability and severity

Arch Gen Psychiatry

Neuropsychological deficits in sober alcoholics: influences of chronicity and recent alcohol consumption

Alcohol Clin Exp Res

What is inherited in the predisposition toward alcoholism? A proposed model

Alcohol Clin Exp Res

Toward a behavioral economic understanding of drug dependence: delay discounting processes

Addiction

Cross-sectional volumetric analysis of brain atrophy in alcohol dependence: effects of drinking history and comorbid substance use disorder

Am J Psychiatry

Conduct disorder among adolescent alcohol and drug abusers

J Stud Alcohol

An inventory for assessing different kinds of hostility

J Consult Psychol

The aggression questionnaire

J Pers Soc Psychol

Age of alcoholism onset. I. Relationship to psychopathology

Arch Gen Psychiatry

Substance dependence and externalizing psychopathology in adolescent boys with small, average, or large P300 event-related potential amplitude

Psychophysiology

Anterior brain deficits in chronic alcoholism. Cause or effect?

J Nerv Ment Dis

Neurogenetic adaptive mechanisms in alcoholism

Science

The psychobiological regulation of social cooperation

Nat Med

Inheritance of alcohol abuse. Cross-fostering analysis of adopted men

Arch Gen Psychiatry

Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences

Anterior brain dysfunctioning as a risk factor in alcoholic behaviors

Addiction

Measuring recognition memory

J Exp Psychol Gen

Behavioral impulsivity paradigms: a comparison in hospitalized adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders

J Child Psychol Psychiatry

Validation of the immediate and delayed memory tasks in hospitalized adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders

Psychol Rec

A comparison between adults with conduct disorder and normal controls on a continuous performance test: differences in impulsive response characteristics

Psychol Rec

Article
Impulsivity in abstinent alcohol-dependent patients: relation to control subjects and type 1–/type 2–like traits