Association between treatment motivation, addiction characteristics, craving and temperament traits in male patients with alcohol addiction

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the treatment motivation, addiction characteristics, craving and temperament traits in male patients with alcohol addiction having inpatient treatment.

Materials and Methods: Male patients diagnosed with alcohol addiction according to DSM-IV-TR having inpatient treatment at Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital's Alcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment and Training Center (AMATEM) were included in the study. The patients were evaluated by sociodemographic data form, Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS), Addiction Profile Index (API), The Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES), Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A).

Results: 85 male patients were included in the study. The mean age of the participants was 46.36 +/- 9.66. The mean of the years of using alcohol was 23.32 +/- 10.33. A positive correlation was found between API total score and PACS total score according to the study.

Conclusion: Increasing craving severity aligned with increasing addiction severity may suggest that patients with high addiction severity should be given more care in terms of craving. The relationship between having a dominant temperament and craving, motivation and severity of addiction could not be determined in our study.