Differential alcohol use patterns and personality traits among three Alcoholics Anonymous attendance level groups: further considerations of the affiliation profile.

The present study was designed to identify personality and drinking behavior correlates associated with membership in Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.). Affiliation profiles were developed on the basis of frequency of A.A. attendance; subtypes were defined as non, low, and high affiliates, respectively. An initial canonical correlation analysis assessed the amount of common variance between personality and drinking characteristics. Subsequent discriminant function analyses on the second-order scales of the drinking and personality variables sets identified those variables differentiating the A.A. affiliated groups. High levels of affiliation were associated with a greater degree of anxiety, a tendency to be more affected by feelings rather than intellect, and more deterioration in the physical, exhibited significant differences in perceived benefits, style, and consequences of alcohol usage. The potential therapeutic utility of A.A. affiliation profiles was discussed.