Five-Factor Model Personality Traits Associated with Alcohol-Related Diagnoses in a Clinical Sample * (Report‪)‬

UNREDERSTANDING HOW PERSONALITY TRAITS late to alcohol use and associated problems may potentially enhance clinical predictions and inform treatments (Ball, 2005). Although alcohol users are not homogeneous with respect to personality (Babor et al., 1992; Morey and Blashfield, 1981), research suggests that individuals with alcohol-related problems tend to differ from community norms regarding several personality traits. Various personality traits have been explored, many of which may be subsumed under the Five-Factor Model (FFM; e.g., Costa and McCrae, 1992; Goldberg, 1999). The FFM organizes normal personality traits into five primary factors, often labeled neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness. FFM traits have demonstrated significant associations with alcohol-use variables. Research suggests that individuals with alcohol-related problems are characterized by high neuroticisrn/negative affect and impulsivity (N), low agreeableness (A), and low conscientiousness/high psychoticism/ high novelty seeking (C) (Martin and Sher, 1994; McCormick et al., 1998; Ruiz et al., 2003; Sher et al., 2000; Stewart et al., 2001; Theakston et al., 2004; Walton and Roberts, 2004). Chassin and colleagues (2004) and Loukas et al. (2000) have reported that high N and low A and C not only predict the use of alcohol among adolescents but also mediate the relation between parent and self-use in this population. Bottlender and Soyka (2005) reported that neuroticism and conscientiousness relate to treatment outcome for alcohol users. With respect to the other FFM personality factors, extraversion (E) has produced more mixed findings with respect to alcohol use (Cox, 1987; Sher et al., 1999), whereas openness (O) has not systematically demonstrated a relation to alcohol use or problems (Ruiz et al., 2003).