Executive functions and personality profiles in early and late onset alcoholism

The aim of the study was to compare late and early onset alcoholism regarding executive functions and personality profiles. Using the age of alcoholism onset as a criterion, fifty-four late onset and 21 early onset male alcoholics were included in the study. Fifty-one male volenteers free from any psychiatric disorder were included as a control group. The study groups were similar with respect to age and years of education. Executive functions were assessed by Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The personality dimension was investigated by Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). Alcohol and drug modules of Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) were administered to each subjects in order to gather data on alcohol intake variables. The lifetime severity of drinking problems was assessed by the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST). As compared with the control group both groups of alcoholic patients displayed almost identical impairment pattern in frontal lobe functions. MMPI-2 scores of alcoholic groups also displayed similar profiles which were characterized by elevated hypochondriasis (Hs), and Paranoia (Pa) subscales. No discriminative feature were detected between alcoholic groups regarding their profiles of MMPI-2. The results of this study suggest that early and late onset alcoholism subtypes are not associated with discriminatively different patterns of impairments in executive functions and personality.