PERSISTENCE PREDICTS LATENCY TO RELAPSE FOLLOWING INPATIENT TREATMENTFOR ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE

Male alcoholics (N = 85) were followed for 6 months after inpatient tr eatment for alcohol dependence. Latency to relapse was predicted by tw o related persistence measures (the RD2 Persistence scale and the Orde rliness/Persistence factor scale of the Tridimensional Personality Que stionnaire. TPQ) as well as by job status at the time of admission to treatment, a history of vagrancy or public intoxication, amount of pri or substance abuse treatment and the number of criteria met for a diag nosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder. Persistence predicted relaps e latency even when the other predictors were used as covariates, supp orting the hypothesis that normal-range personality variables may enha nce the prediction of clinical outcome. Further, the relations between TPQ scales and antisocial behavior as well as the severity of alcohol dependence were examined. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.