Personality Factors, Substance Misuse, and Violence

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Personality Factors, Substance Misuse, and
Violence

• Theodore M. Godlaski
• University of Kentucky
• College of Social Work

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Personality Factors, Substance Misuse and Violence

• The question here is Are there identifiable
  factors in the personalities of individuals that
  cause them to be at higher risk for substance
  misuse and the perpetration of violence?
• Can personality help explain why different
  individuals, faced with the same situation, act
  differently?
• Can personality help us understand why specific
  individuals act violently when using a substance?
• Can personality factors help us predict who is at
  greatest risk of perpetration?
• Can personality factors help us understand what
  intervention strategies are most appropriate?

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Personality
Physical Psychological Abuse
Substance Abuse
Physical Psychological Abuse
Personality
Substance Abuse
Personality
Physical Psychological Abuse
Substance Abuse
Specific Personality Factors Substance Abuse
Physical Psychological Abuse
Broad Personality Traits
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Varieties of Violence

• Our previous studies have largely focused on
  reactive violence.
• Issues related to neurobiological factors and
  developmental factors largely address what may
  make an individual prone to react with aggression
  and violence to a perceived threat.
• It might be argued that some of these approaches
  also relate to a kind of preventative violence
  violence that anticipates a threat and is
  proactive.

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Varieties of Violence

• In examining personality factor related to
  violence and substance misuse, we encounter
  instrumental violence.
• This is violence as a tool that serves another
  purpose control.
• This is a valuable distinction so long as we
  recognize that the dividing line is somewhat
  fuzzy.

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Two Minute Paper

• Take one or two minutes to think and jot down an
  answer to the following question.
• What does a male batterer look like? That is,
  how would you describe this person in a word
  picture?
• Discuss your thoughts with a partner and be ready
  to share them with the class.

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A Basic Typology
Holtzworth-Munroe, A, Stuart, G.L.
(1994).Typologies of male batterers
Three subtypes and the differences among them.
Psychological Bullitin, 116, 476-497.
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Holtzworth-Munroe, A, Stuart, G.L.
(1994).Typologies of male batterers
Three subtypes and the differences among them.
Psychological Bullitin, 116, 476-497.
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Some Necessary Definitions

• Personality Trait
• A hypothetical dimension of personality that is
  present from early life, remains fairly stable,
  and can be generalized across a variety of
  situations.
• Personality State
• The way in which a personality trait expresses
  itself in a specific situation.

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Some Necessary Definitions

• Personality Characteristic
• A personality trait and its potential. The trait
  speaks to how an individual usually responds in a
  given set of circumstances, the potential speaks
  to the maximum expression of the trait in a given
  set of circumstances.
• Personality Factor
• Encompasses both the trait and the state.

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Some Necessary Definitions

• Dimensional Approach
• Accepts that personality traits differ from one
  individual to another along a continuum
• Categorical Approach
• Focuses on personality types that differ
  qualitatively in kind rather than by degree.
• Personality Types
• Discrete categories that can involve a
  constellation of personality characteristics that
  are present in an all-or-nothing way.

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Borderline

• A pervasive pattern of interpersonal
  relationships, self-image, and affects, and
  marked impulsivity beginning in early adulthood
  and present in a variety of contexts as indicated
  by five (or more) of the following
• Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined
  abandonment
• A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal
  relationships characterized by alternating
  between extremes of idealization and devaluation

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Borderline

• Identity disturbance markedly and persistently
  unstable self image or sense of self
• Impulsivity in at least two areas that are
  potentially self-damaging
• Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures or threats,
  or self-mutilating behavior
• Affective instability due to marked reactivity of
  mood
• Chronic feeling of emptiness
• Inappropriate intense anger, or difficulty
  controlling anger
• Transient stress-related paranoid ideation or
  severe dissociative symptoms.

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Antisocial

• There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and
  violation of the rights of others occurring since
  age 15 years, as indicated by three (or more) of
  the following
• Failure to conform to social norms with respect
  to lawful behavior as indicated by repeatedly
  performing acts that are grounds for arrest
• Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying,
  use of aliases, or conning others for personal
  profit or pleasure

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Antisocial

• Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
• Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by
  repeated fights or assaults
• Reckless disregard for safety of self and others
• Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by
  repeated failure to sustain consistent work
  behavior or honor financial obligations
• Lack of remorse as indicated by being indifferent
  to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or
  stolen from others

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Antisocial

• The individual is at least are 18 years
• There is evidence of conduct disorder with onset
  before age 15 years
• The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not
  exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or
  manic episodes.

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Two Minute Paper

• Take one or two minutes to think and jot down an
  answer to the following question.
• What does a female batterer look like? That is,
  how would you describe this person in a word
  picture?
• Discuss your thoughts with a partner and be ready
  to share them with the class.

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Passive Aggressive Personality

• A pervasive pattern of negativistic attitudes and
  passive resistance to demands for adequate
  performance, beginning by early adulthood and
  present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by
  four (or more) of the following
• Passively resists fulfilling routine social and
  occupational tasks
• Complains of being misunderstood and
  unappreciated by others

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Passive Aggressive Personality

• Is sullen and argumentative
• Unreasonably criticizes and scorns authority
• Expresses envy and resentment toward those
  apparently more fortunate
• Voices exaggerated and persistent complaints of
  personal misfortune
• Alternates between hostile defiance and
  contrition
• Does not occur exclusively during major
  depressive episodes and is not better accounted
  for by dysthymic disorder.

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Other Personality Factors

• Trait Anger and Hostility
• There is evidence, although not unequivocal, that
  links trait hostility, substance misuse, and
  aggression.
• Defensiveness, impulsivity, and aggression have
  been shown to be predictors (although weak) of
  violence in both men and women.
• Measures of hostility in women have been
  predictors of a punitive style of child rearing.

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Other Personality Factors

• Need for control and power
• This is not a trait but a need that stems from a
  personality type (categorical).
• These two factors are linked.
• Proactive instrumental violence may be associated
  with these needs.
• High need for power is associated with both
  aggressiveness and substance misuse.

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An Aside

• Laboratory research on normals using an
  aggression paradigm has indicated that increased
  aggression is linked to the ingestion of alcohol,
  opiates, and benzodiazapines but not to the
  ingestion of stimulant drugs.
• It has been postulated that this is due to
  dampening of the cue for punishment or the pain
  system.

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An Aside

• Milkman and Frosch and later Milkman and
  Sunderwerth developed the notion that individuals
  choose specific drugs because they make them more
  the way they are already.
• Individuals who are passive in dealing with
  reality choose satiation drugs like opiates.
• Individuals who are aggressive in dealing with
  reality choose arousal drugs like cocaine or
  amphetamine.

Milkman, H. Frosch, W. (1977). The drug of
choice. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 9 (1),
11-20
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An Aside

• It is entirely possible that regular drug users
  might respond quite differently on aggression
  tests when under the influence of their drug of
  choice than normals.
• This could explain why stimulants are not
  associated with aggression in the lab but are in
  the real world.

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Personality, Stress, and Coping Model

• This model links personality constructs that are
  dimensional in nature, interpersonal stress (in
  its origin, perception, and response), coping
  styles and strategies to both chronic and
  situation substance misuse and violence.

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• Personality Factor
• psychopathic personality
• -perfectionistic overcontroll
• -hostile depression

Coping -antisocial -emotion oriented -substance
use -prob. solving skills/confidence
Interpersonal Stress -stress generation -stress
reactivity -stress appraisal
Physical and emotional abuse
Chronic Substance Misuse
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Psychopathic Personality

• Associated with antisocial personality traits
• Antisocial behaviors are non specific and may
  involve violent and criminal behaviors within and
  outside the home.
• However, they may simply tend to be self-centered
  and solve problems with minimal consideration for
  empathy and the rights or needs of others.

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Perfectionistic Overcontroll

• Perfectionism can be self-oriented,
  other-oriented, or socially prescribed.
• Other-oriented and socially prescribed
  perfectionism is most clearly linked with
  intimate violence.
• Borderline personality is most clearly related to
  perfectionistic overcontroll.
• Individuals with a rigid schema about how things
  should be who become enraged when reality does
  not conform to their schema.

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Perfectionistic Overcontroll

• Many victim first person accounts of spouse and
  child abuse identify the abusers expectation of
  perfection as a consistent theme.
• There appears to be a subtype that is more
  oriented toward self and socially prescribed
  perfectionism
• Such individuals have unrealistic expectations of
  themselves and their intimates, when they fail,
  as they must, they blame spouse and children for
  not rescuing them.

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Hostile, Depressive Personality

• Socially prescribed perfectionism is a feature of
  hostile depression.
• Such individuals have high interpersonal
  sensitivity and respond with hostility and
  aggression to perceived mistreatment.
• Hostility and depression are linked with
  substance misuse.
• Hostile depression may be linked to violence most
  specifically in situations where there is high
  perceived demand for performance.

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Stress Factors

• Events that present the perceived potential for
  humiliation seem to be specifically prone toward
  violent response.
• Interpersonal stress is interactive
• The tendency to relate to others with hostility
  provokes hostility in response.
• The lack of empathy in interaction leads to
  non-empathic response from others.
• Expectations, arising from personality
  characteristics, determine interpretation of
  stressful situations.

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Coping Factors

• Child abuse has been linked with emotion-oriented
  and avoidance-oriented coping as well as lower
  confidence in problem solving skills.
• A general lack of problem solving skills or a
  sense of inefficacy in coping and solving
  problems is more likely to result in hostile
  responses and the use of substances as part of
  the coping response.

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Coping Factors

• Antisocial coping tends to take the most direct
  route to eliminating the perceived source of the
  problem without reference to empathy or the
  rights of others.
• Antisocial coping is more prevalent in men than
  in women.
• It might be helpful to conceptualize coping
  styles as a continuum.

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• Personality Factor
• psychopathic personality
• -perfectionistic overcontroll
• -hostile depression

Coping -antisocial -emotion oriented -substance
use -prob. solving skills/confidence
Interpersonal Stress -stress generation -stress
reactivity -stress appraisal
Physical and emotional abuse
Chronic Substance Misuse
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• Personality Factor
• psychopathic personality
• -perfectionistic overcontroll
• -hostile depression

Coping -antisocial -emotion oriented -substance
use -prob. solving skills/confidence
Interpersonal Stress -stress generation -stress
reactivity -stress appraisal
Physical and emotional abuse
Depending on whether the coping style is
emotionally charged and prone toward aggression
or prosocial, and whether confidence in the
effectiveness of the coping skills is low or
high, there is increased or decreased probability
of abuse. Although the risk for abuse is
substantial, it is not necessarily critical.
Generally these Personality Factors tend to
increase interpersonal stress on all levels. The
degree of distress will, most likely, relate to
the degree to which the Personality Factor
dominates the personality structure of the
individual.
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• Personality Factor
• psychopathic personality
• -perfectionistic overcontroll
• -hostile depression

Coping -antisocial -emotion oriented -substance
use -prob. solving skills/confidence
Interpersonal Stress -stress generation -stress
reactivity -stress appraisal
Physical and emotional abuse
Chronic Substance Misuse
Once regular misuse of substances enters the
picture, it both increases and exaggerates
interpersonal stress on all levels, impairs the
use of coping skills and tends to displace
prosocial coping, and decreases impulse control
creating a much more critical likelihood of abuse.
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Two Minute Paper

• Take one or two minutes to think and jot down an
  answer to the following question.
• What are some concrete behaviors to look for
  when attempting to assess the risk for possible
  intimate violence?
• Discuss your thoughts with a partner and be ready
  to share them with the class.

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Addendum

• There is another way of conceptualizing
  personality factors that is dimensional, that is
  the identification of general traits that are
  present to a greater or lesser degree in all
  individuals.
• This is the OCEAN model or the Five Factor Model.
• The factors are stable, hereditable, adaptive,
  and universal.

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Five Factor Model

• Openness to Experience
• This trait reflects 'open-mindedness' and
  interest in culture. High scorers tend to be
  imaginative, creative, and to seek out cultural
  and educational experiences. Low scorers are more
  down-to-earth, less interested in art and more
  practical in nature.
• original, imaginative, creative, perceptive,
  sophisticated, knowledgeable, cultured, artistic,
  curious, analytical, liberal
• Conscientiousness
• This trait reflects how organized and persistent
  we are in pursuing our goals. High scorers are
  methodical, well organized and dutiful. Low
  scorers are less careful, less focused and more
  likely to be distracted from tasks.
• conscientious, practical, cautious, serious,
  reliable, organized, careful, dependable,
  hardworking, ambitious

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Five Factor Model

• Extroversion
• This trait reflects preference for, and behavior
  in, social situations. People high in
  extraversion are energetic and seek out the
  company of others. Low scorers (introverts) tend
  to be more quiet and reserved.
• sociable, talkative, active, bold, fun-loving,
  spontaneous, adventurous, enthusiastic,
  person-oriented, assertive
• Agreeableness
• This trait reflects how we tend to interact with
  others. People high in agreeableness tend to be
  trusting, friendly and cooperative. Low scorers
  tend to be more aggressive and less cooperative.
• warm, generous, trustful, courteous, agreeable,
  cooperative, flexible, forgiving, cheerful,
  humble

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Five Factor Model

• Neuroticism
• This trait reflects the tendency to experience
  negative thoughts and feelings. High scorers are
  prone to insecurity and emotional distress. Low
  scorers tend to be more relaxed, less emotional
  and less prone to distress.
• relaxed, peaceful, objective, calm, unemotional,
  even-tempered, secure, patient, uninhibited

McAdams, D.P. (1992). The five factor model in
personality A critical appraisal. Journal of
Personality 60, 329-361
http//users.wmin.ac.uk/buchant/wwwffi/
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H, L high, low based on DSM Criteria h, l
high, low based on DSM associated features H/h,
L/l high, low based on clinical
literature. Widiger, et all (1998). A description
of the DSM-III-R and DSM-IV personality disorders
with the five-factor model of personality. In P.
Costa T. Widiger (eds) Personality Disorders
and the Five Factor Model. Washington, DC
American Psychological Association, p.42.
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Two Minute Paper

• Take one or two minutes to think and jot down an
  answer to the following question.
• Using the Big Five, what would individuals
  prone to intimate violence and substance misuse
  look like? That is, on what factors would they
  tend to be high and on what factors would they
  tend to be low?
• Discuss your thoughts with a partner and be ready
  to share them with the class.

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Openness to Experience
low
high
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
antisocial
Hostile depressive
Perfectionistic/Overcontrol