Pharmacological treatment for antisocial personality disorder alcoholics: a preliminary study

Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1996 May;20(3):477-84. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1996.tb01078.x.

Abstract

A short time ago, we reported that a subgroup of hospitalized alcoholic men with comorbid antisocial personality disorder (ASP) seemed to benefit significantly from antidepressant medication at the end of a 6-month period in a double-blind, random assignment, placebo-controlled study. In a reanalysis of those data, we divided the ASP alcoholic group (n = 29) into those who did (n = 15) and who did not (n = 14) also satisfy DSM-III-R criteria for an additional current mood and/or anxiety disorder and then compared the 6-month outcomes of these two smaller subgroups. Despite the small ns, the results for most drinking outcome measures indicated: (1) that ASP alcoholics with a current mood/anxiety disorder improved significantly more with pharmacological treatment, relative to placebo; and (2) that ASP alcoholics with no current mood/anxiety disorder failed to respond differentially to pharmacological treatment over the 6-month period. These findings suggest a possibly useful and inexpensive approach to the long-term management of a very difficult-to-treat subgroup of men substance abusers.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Comparative Study
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Alcoholism / rehabilitation*
  • Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / therapeutic use*
  • Antisocial Personality Disorder / rehabilitation*
  • Bromocriptine / therapeutic use*
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Comorbidity
  • Dopamine Agonists / therapeutic use*
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nortriptyline / therapeutic use*
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic
  • Dopamine Agonists
  • Bromocriptine
  • Nortriptyline