Personality risk for alcoholism covaries with hangover symptoms.

Previous work relating self-reported hangover symptoms and familial risk for alcoholism was extended to personality risk for alcoholism, as measured by the MacAndrew alcoholism scale (MAC). The MAC predicted a significant amount of unique variance in reported hangover symptoms after controlling for gender, average quantity consumed on a drinking occasion, and fathers' scores on the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (SMAST). Individuals at elevated personality risk for alcoholism apparently experience more acute withdrawal and hangover, which may initiate further drinking to relieve these aversive symptoms.