Craving for alcohol in sober alcoholics.

The craving for alcohol experienced by 46 abstinent alcoholics was investigated with a structured interview, a personality inventory (the neuroticism Scale Questionnaire), and a mood state adjective checklist (Profile of Mood States). It was found that craving is a continuum, not an all-or-none phenomenon. The intensity of craving was positively correlated with the trait anxiety of the subject and inversely correlated with the duration of abstinence from alcohol. A large proportion of the craving was precipitated by environmental factors and relieved by psychological methods. A variety of mood changes accompanied carving. Only one mood state, anger-hostility, significantly differentiated subjects who experienced mild craving from those reporting severe craving.