A group of 35 severely dependent male alcoholic patients undergoing cu
e exposure treatment were studied. Thirty-one subjects had complete da
ta and their physiological and subjective responses to drink cues on t
he first day of the cue exposure program were subjected to a principal
components analysis. The principal component loadings were then used
to construct a single measure of responsivity and this responsivity me
asure was found to correlate significantly with Severity of Alcohol De
pendence Questionnaire (SADQ) scores. Further analysis of the relation
ship between responsivity and the subscales of the SADQ showed that th
e experience of affective withdrawal symptoms, craving for alcohol and
drinking to relieve withdrawal symptoms were the most strongly correl
ated with responsivity.