To explore the use of normal personality measures in clinical populations, we investigated the usefulness of the Five-Factor personality domains measured by the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) in identifying subtypes among a cohort of 3,256 substance abusers. Three groups were reliably identified across clustering methods and the groups differed in reported coping style, psychopathological symptoms, and pattern of substance choice. The largest differences between group members' personality dimensions were found for measures of neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Members of groups characterized by elevated levels of neuroticism demonstrated low levels of conscientiousness and agreeableness. The more extreme the group members' levels on these personality dimensions, the higher their reported levels of depressive symptoms, aggressive/hostile cognitions, impulsiveness, maladaptive coping styles, and likelihood of abusing more than one substance. Results support the use of measures of normal domains of personality in identifying meaningful subtypes of substance abusers.
Aldenderfer, M. S.
, & Blashfield, R. K. (1984). Cluster analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
2.
American Psychiatric Association
. (1987). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., Rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
Amirkhan, J. H.
, Risinger, R. T., & Swickert, R. J. (1995). Extraversion: A "hidden" personality factor in coping?Journal of Personality, 63, 189-212.
4.
Ball, S. A.
(1995). The validity of an alternative five-factor measure of personality in cocaine abusers. Psychological Assessment, 7(2), 148-154.
5.
Barratt, E. S.
(1985). Impulsiveness subtraits: Arousal and information processing. In J. T. Spence and C. E. Izard (Eds.), Motivation, emotion and personality (pp. 137-146). North Holland: Elsevier.
6.
Beck, A. T.
, & Beck, R. W. (1972). Screening depressed patients in family practice: A rapid technique. Postgraduate Medicine, 52, 81-85.
7.
Beck, A. T.
, Steer, R. A., & Garbin, M. G. (1988). Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation. Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 77-100.
8.
Biaggio, M. K.
, Supplee, K., & Curtis, N. (1981). Reliability and validity of four anger scales. Journal of Personality Assessment, 45, 639-648.
9.
Blashfield, R. K.
(1976). Mixture model tests of cluster analysis: Accuracy of four agglomerative hierarchical methods. Psychological Bulletin, 83, 377-388.
10.
Blashfield, R. K.
(1989). A commentary on "A cluster analysis of institutionalized mentally retarded individuals."American Journal of Mental Retardation, 94, 6-6.
11.
Bolger, N.
(1990). Coping as a personality process: A prospective study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 525-537.
12.
Bolger, N.
, & Zuckerman, A. (1995). A framework for studying personality in the stress process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 890-902.
13.
Brooner, R. K.
, Schmidt, C. W., & Herbst, J. H. (1994). Personality trait characteristics of opiod abusers with and without comorbid personality disorders. In P. T. Costa, Jr. and T. A. Widiger (Eds.), Personality disorders and thefivefactor model of personality. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
14.
Buss, A. H.
, & Durkee, A. (1957). An inventory for assessing different kinds of hostility. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21, 343-349.
15.
Cattell, R. B.
(1949). γρ and other coefficients of pattern similarity. Psychometrika, 14, 279-298.
16.
Cohen,J. A.
(1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 37-46.
17.
Costa, P. T., Jr.
, & McCrae, R. R. (1985). The NEO Personality Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
18.
Costa, P. T., Jr.
, & McCrae, R. R. (1989). The NEO Personality Inventory-Revised. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources
19.
Costa, P. T., Jr.
, & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: The NEO Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 4, 5-13.
20.
Costa, P. T., Jr.
, Somerfield, M. R., & McCrae, R. R. (1996). Personality and coping: A reconceptualization. In M. Zeidner and N. S. Endler (Eds.), Handbook of coping: Theory, research, applications (pp. 44-61). New York: John Wiley.
21.
Donat, D. C.
(1988). Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) clusters for alcohol abusers: Further evidence of validity and implications for medical psychotherapy. Medical Psychotherapy, 1, 41-50.
22.
Endler, N. S.
, & Parker, J. D. A. (1990). Multidimensional assessment of coping: A critical evaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 844-854.
23.
Fals-Stewart, W.
(1992). Personality characteristics of substance abusers: An MCMI cluster typology of recreational drug users treated in a therapeutic community and its relationship to length of stay and outcome. Journal of Personality Assessment, 59, 515-527.
24.
Folkman, S.
, & Lazarus, R. S. (1988). Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
25.
Harrison, P. A.
, & Hoffman, N. G. (1985). The Substance Use Disorders Diagnostic Schedule. St. Paul, MN: The Ramsey Clinic.
26.
Hewitt, P. L.
, & Flett, G. L. (1996). Personality traits and the coping process. In M. Zeidner and N. S. Endler (Eds.), Handbook of coping: Theory, research, applications (pp. 410-433). New York: John Wiley.
27.
Horn, J. L.
(1961). Significance test for use with γρ and related profile statistics. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 21, 363-370.
28.
Lazarus, R. S.
, & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. New York: Springer.
29.
Lorr, M.
(1983). Cluster analysis for social scientists. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
30.
Lorr, M.
, & Strack, S. (1993). Some NEO-PI five-factor personality profiles. Journal of Personality Assessment, 60, 91-99.
31.
Lorr, M.
, & Suziedelis, A. (1985). Profile patterns in the 16PF questionnaire. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 41, 1378-1381.
32.
Mayer, G. S.
, & Scott, K. J. (1988). An exploration of heterogeneity in an inpatient male alcoholic population. Journal of Personality Disorders, 2, 243-255.
33.
McCormick, R. A.
(1993). Disinhibition and negative affectivity in substance abusers with and without a gambling problem. Addictive Behaviors, 18, 331-336.
34.
McCrae, R. R.
, & Costa, P. T., Jr. (1986). Personality, coping, and coping effectiveness in an adult sample.Journal of Personality, 54, 385-405.
35.
McCrae, R. R.
, & Costa, P. T., Jr. (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 81-90.
36.
Milligan, G. W.
(1981). A review of Monte Carlo tests of cluster analysis. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 16, 379-407.
37.
Milligan, G. W.
, & Cooper, M. C. (1985). An examination of procedures for determining the number of clusters in a data set. Psychometricka, 50, 159-179.
38.
Milligan, G. W.
, & Sokol, L. M. (1980). A two-stage clustering algorithm with robust recovery characteristics. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 40, 755-759.
39.
Morey, L. C.
, Skinner, H. A., & Blashfield, R. K. (1984). A typology of alcohol abusers: Correlates and implications. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 408-417.
40.
Norusis, M. J./SPSS Inc.
(1994). SPSS for Windows 6.1 Base System User's Guide. Chicago, IL: SPSS.
41.
Parker, J. D.
, Endler, N. S., & Bagby, R. M. (1993). If it changes, it might be unstable: Examining the factor structure of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Psychological Assessment, 5, 361-368.
42.
Quirk, S. W.
, McCormick, R., & Zegarra, J. (1996, August). Personality, coping styles, and pattern of substance abuse. Paper presented at the 104th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada.
43.
SAS Institute
. (1990). SAS/STAT user's guide (Version 6, Vol. 1, 4th ed.). Cary, NC: Author.
44.
Spitzer, R. L.
, Williams, J. B., Gibbon, M., & First, M. (1992). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R. Archives of General Psychiatry, 45, 624-629.
45.
Steele, C. M.
, & Josephs, R. A. (1990). Alcohol myopia: Its prized and dangerous effects. American Psychologist, 45, 921-933.
46.
Trull, T. J.
, Useda, J. D., Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1995). Comparison of the MMPI-2 Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5), the NEO-PI, and the NEO PI-R. Psychological Assessment, 7, 508-516.
47.
Ward, J. H.
(1963). Hierarchical grouping to optimize an objective function. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 58, 233-244.
48.
Watson, D.
, Clark, L. A., & Harkness, A. R. (1994). Structures of personality and their relevance to psychopathology.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 18-31.
49.
Widiger, T. A.
, Trull, T. J., Clarkin, J. F., Sanderson, C., & Costa, P. T., Jr. (1994). A description of the DSM-III-R and DSM-IV personality disorders with the Five-Factor Model of personality. In P. T. Costa, Jr. & T. A. Widiger (Eds.), Personality disorders and the Five-Factor Model of Personality (pp. 41-56). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
50.
Wills, T. A.
, & Hirky, E. (1996). Coping and substance abuse: A theoretical model and review of the evidence. In M. Zeidner & N. S. Endler. (Eds.), Handbook of coping: Theory, research, applications (pp. 279-302). New York: John Wiley.
51.
Wills, T. A.
, & Shiffman, S. (1985). Coping and substance use: A conceptual framework. In S. Shiffman & T. A. Wills (Eds.), Coping and substance use (pp. 3-24). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
52.
Zuckerman, M.
, Kuhlman, D. M., Joireman, J., Teta, P., & Kraft, M. (1993). A comparison of three structural models for personality: The big three, the big five, and the alternative five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 757-768.
