Self-reinforcement scores of alcoholics.

Abstract

The mean self-reinforcement score of 62 chronic alcoholics was significantly lower than the mean score of 18 age- and sex-matched normal controls. However, both groups scored higher than the mean score of 300 normal undergraduates in a study by Heiby: low self-reinforcement scores do not seem to be unique to alcoholics. In alcoholics, the self-reinforcement scores were significantly correlated with the majority of the MMPI clinical scales: the highest coefficients were with the Social Introversion, Depression, Psychasthenia, and Schizophrenia--lower self-reinforcement level was associated with more psychopathology.