Emily R. Grekin

Personality and substance dependence symptoms: Modeling substance-specific traits

Personality traits related to neuroticism and disinhibition have been consistently associated with substance use disorders (SUDs). It is unclear, however, whether different personality traits predict distinct forms of substance dependence. Additionally, it is unclear whether personality traits continue to predict alcohol, drug, and tobacco dependence after controlling for comorbid antisociality and other SUDs. The current study addresses these questions by characterizing relations between personality traits and substance dependence symptoms in a longitudinal sample of 3,720 college students. Results revealed that antisociality and certain core personality traits predicted multiple types of substance pathology. In addition, several personality traits were differentially associated with alcohol, drug, and tobacco symptomatology.

Alcohol dependence symptoms among college freshmen: Prevalence, stability, and person-environment interactions.

College students are at risk for problematic alcohol use. Few studies, however, have examined alcohol dependence symptoms within a college sample. The current study assesses the prevalence, predictors, and stability of proxy Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) alcohol dependence symptoms among college freshmen. Participants were 3,720 freshmen taking part in a longitudinal study. Participants completed measures of alcohol use, fraternity and sorority membership, and behavioral undercontrol. Results revealed that alcohol dependence symptoms were prevalent and moderately stable among college freshmen. Both membership in a Greek organization and behavioral undercontrol predicted responses to our alcohol dependence proxy. In addition, Greek status interacted with behavioral undercontrol to predict alcohol dependence symptoms, such that Greek members high in behavioral undercontrol were especially vulnerable to symptoms of dependence.

Major Mental Disorders and Crime in the Community

The public has a fear of the mentally ill. It has long believed that mentally ill individuals are more prone to crime, especially violent crime, than other members of society (Gerbener, 1980; Monahan, 1992; Rabkin, 1979). The media perpetuates this view with news stories revealing the psychiatric history of gunmen involved in shooting sprees. In some cases, as in the recent shooting in a Colorado high school that left 14 children and a teacher dead, it seems as if the public desperately looks for evidence of mental disorder to explain criminal acts that seem otherwise unexplainable.