Cor A.J DeJong

The Addiction Severity Index: Reliability and Validity in a Dutch Alcoholic Population

The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) was evaluated for its psychometric qualities in a Dutch alcoholic population admitted to an addiction treatment center in The Netherlands. Its factorial structure in this population was found to be consistent with the established six factor structure of the ASI. Reliability analysis revealed that the homogeneity of the subscales was acceptable with the exception of the Alcohol Scale. The six subscales were not highly intercorrelated. The results of this study indicate that the ASI is a useful instrument for the assessment of several problems associated with alcoholism. However, the Alcohol Scale appears to be limited as a diagnostic and research instrument in the field of inpatient treatment of alcohol dependence in The Netherlands.

Sex role stereotypes and clinical judgement: How therapists view their alcoholic patients

In the course of a selection procedure for inpatient treatment in an addiction clinic, it was repeatedly noticed that the attitude of staff-members towards male alcoholics was more confronting and critical as compared to a more empathic and supportive attitude towards female alcoholics. Two different processes may account for this phenomenon. Firstly, male and female alcoholics may differ in their interpersonal behaviour towards therapists, and subsequently these different behaviours evoke different attitudes and behaviours in therapists (interaction-hypothesis). Secondly, these different attitudes towards male and female patients may emerge from preconceived ideas among therapists about male and female alcoholics (stereotype-hypothesis). This study describes the stereotypes held by therapists regarding the interpersonal behaviour of male and female alcoholics. Furthermore, it explores the influence of self perceived interpersonal behaviour of therapists on these stereotypes. The results suggest, that the differences in attitude and behaviour towards alcoholics are--at least partly--the result of different male and female alcoholic stereotypes held by therapists. These stereotypes were related to the self perceived interpersonal behaviour of the therapist. Pretreatment matching of patients and therapists should be based on interpersonal attitude rather than on sex.

Memories of Parental Rearing in Alcohol and Drug Addicts: A Comparative Study

Memories of parental rearing were investigated in 48 polydrug addicts and 91 alcohol addicts with the EMBU, an instrument for assessing parental rearing styles. Drug addicts remember their fathers and mothers as more rejecting and overprotecting and their mothers as more favoring than do alcoholics. When the age and the sex of addicts are taken into account, the kind of addiction and the sex of the addicts can explain a part of the variance of the overprotection dimension by fathers and mothers. The age of the addicts can explain a part of the variance of the rejection dimension by fathers and mothers. Finally, the variance in the favoring dimension by mothers can be explained by the kind of addiction.

Construct validity of the SIDP‐IV in an opioid‐dependent patient sample

Aims: Studies on opioid‐dependent patients, report high comorbidity with personality pathology. Since psychiatric comorbidity is related to poorer treatment outcome and drop‐out in opioid‐dependent patients, in this study, the underlying structure of the DSM‐IV personality disorders in an opioid‐dependent patient sample (n = 263), assessed by the structured interview for DSM‐IV Personality, was explored in order to contribute to the construct validity of this instrument. Design: Explorative factor analysis yielded a three‐factor solution, largely resembling the DSM‐IV cluster model. Findings: The optional disorders, depressive and negativistic personality disorder, did not detract from the presumed model. Confirmatory factor analysis did not confirm a good fit of the model to the data, which is due to the paranoid personality disorder (PD) which groups with cluster B PDs. Conclusions: Overall, the underlying structure of DSM‐IV PDs resembles the presumed DSM‐IV cluster model, thereby suggesting good construct validity of the SIDP‐IV in opioid‐dependent patients.

Memories of Parental Rearing and Personality Pathology in Male Alcoholics

In this study, the relation between memories of parental rearing and personality pathology is investigated in 81 male inpatient alcohol addicts. Memories of parental rearing styles were measured with the EMBU, a questionnaire of 65 items about paternal and maternal rearing. Personality pathology was measured with the Structured Interview for DSM-III Personality Disorders (SIDP), on the basis of which dimensional scores were obtained. Results indicated a positive correlation between rejection and favoring by mother on the one hand and the total score for personality pathology as measured with the SIDP on the other hand. The significant correlations with maternal rearing styles were different for different clusters. Personality pathology in the eccentric cluster was associated with a mother who was remembered as emotionally cold and rejecting. In case of pathology in the dramatic cluster, an association was found with favoring and rejecting. In the anxious-avoidant cluster no significant correlation was found. Significant correlations between paternal rearing styles and personality pathology were only found in the dramatic cluster: a positive correlation with rejection and favoring.

Interpersonal aspects of personality disorders in opioid-dependent patients: the convergence of the ICL-R and the SIDP-IV.

This study aims to establish the convergence of the empirically based Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM)- and theory-based interpersonal behavioral approaches to personality, in opioid-dependent patients (n = 110), with the use of the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality [Pfohl et al.: Structured Interview for DSM-IV PD. Iowa City, UICM, 1995] and the Interpersonal Checklist-Revised (ICL-R) [DeJong and VandenBrink: ICL-R. St. Oedenrode/NL, Novadic, 1998]. As hypothesized, based on prior research, we found the two approaches to be complementary rather than interchangeable. However, some overlap was found between the SIDP-IV dimensions and the ICL-R, mainly with rebellious/distrustful, reserved/silent and masochistic/self-effacing styles. Results indicate that drug dependence in itself is not a predictor of interpersonal style, while personality pathology is. Patients with a personality disorder (PD) perceive themselves as hostile and submissive, while patients without a PD view themselves as friendly and controlling. The SIDP-IV seems informative in classifying PDs, in addition guidelines for behavioral change, in addicted patients, were provided based on the ICL-R.