The differences in experience of anxiety among alcoholics classified with Cloninger's two-type model of alcoholism

In spite of the difficulty presented by individual differences in the development of successful treatments for alcoholism, research continues to focus on a "one size fits all" model of intervention. For many years, research has indicated that alcoholism falls into multiple categories, and still treatment approaches fail to recognize the potential significance of the individual differences. From a constructionist perspective, this would be expected to limit significantly the opportunity for successful therapeutic intervention.; Recent research, that seeks to identify alcoholics by specific types, predominantly focuses on either etiological concerns or psychopharmacological interventions. However, another way of categorizing alcoholic would be to attend to psychological and behavioral clusters. One recent, and fruitful, line of research has used the individual experience of anxiety to categorize types of alcoholics.; Cloninger's Type I & II model suggests this type of schism. Research supports his theory with identification of disparities in neurotransmitters and genetic markers. Therapists that accept this proposal, therefore, should seek to better comprehend the client's experience of anxiety to enhance the potential for a positive therapeutic outcome. Before research moves toward intervention, however, we need to understand how physiological markers translate into experience.; The purpose of the present research is to understand the different experiences of anxiety among alcoholics in recovery. Given the wide range of both physiological and psychological implications of anxiety, this seems a particularly relevant area of research. Identifications of different experiences would foster better conceptualizations of the client experience.; In this study, quantitative measures were used to identify differences in stress responses between alcoholics classified according to Cloninger's typology. Measurement involved the ability of participants to effectively complete a time-limited cognitive task sensitive to anxiety, the Stroop test, as measured in task performance, pulse/blood pressure, and self-report assessment (Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scale). Any attempt to measure these differences required differentiation of subjects using Cloninger's model. K means cluster analysis of a self-report questionnaire successfully accomplished this task.; The results of this research suggest several things. First, alcoholics in general experience anxiety in ambiguous situations more than controls, rather than the social anxiety that is often the current focus of research. Second, Type II alcoholics perceive more physical threat in neutral situations than either controls or Type I's. Additionally, Type I's performed more poorly than the controls or Type II's on a high stress task that demanded speed and accuracy. The results are not only consistent with the hypothesis, they argue for a new approach to understanding anxiety in alcoholism.