Influence of alcoholism and gender on the relationship between personality and drinking motivation

Background Alcoholic men and women tend to have differential patterns of associated comorbid psychiatric disorders, distinct cognitive and emotional abnormalities, and varying corresponding structural and functional brain abnormalities. Further, although converging, there remain gender differences in sociocultural norms related to alcohol use behaviors. As such, men and women may be motivated to use and abuse alcohol for different reasons. Previous literature has suggested a role for personality in drinking motives, but this relationship generally has been assessed as a risk factor for adolescents and young adults rather than in an adult population. The goal of the present study was to determine how alcoholism and gender are related to the associations between personality traits and drinking motivation.