Author: Charles Frank

Alcohol use and personality change in middle and older adulthood: Findings from the Health and Retirement Study

In other words, someone who tends to be argumentative when he’s sober may be more likely to pick a fight when he’s drunk. Experts still have a lot to learn about how genes might affect the way that you react to alcohol. But it’s been proven that drinking tends to make everyone a little bit more impulsive.

The five-factor model of personality operationalizes traits as relatively stable patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors that distinguish individuals from one another (McCrae & Costa, 1999). Neuroticism, the tendency to be prone to anxiety and depression, declines with age (e.g., Roberts et al., 2006; see also Terracciano et al., 2005) but may increase in older adulthood (e.g., Kandler et al., 2015). In the recent months, we have received plenty of questions and comments about alcohol abuse. All of the posts mention feelings of shock about the way the writers have been treated by their spouse or significant other when they have been drinking. In many of the cases, writers ask if it is true that alcohol consumption can cause personality changes and if the rageful comments made by the inebriated individual can be true. All cross-lagged difference score models were adjusted for age, age squared, sex, race, education, income and wealth.

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She adds that not everyone who misuses alcohol develops these changes and that genetics, lifestyle, and environmental factors can also play a role. Worley points out that alcohol’s effects on the prefrontal cortex area of the brain make it easier for people to act on aggressive impulses, and alcohol can amplify underlying emotional states. If someone is already feeling stressed, anxious, or angry, alcohol might intensify these feelings. The participants reported feeling less conscientious, less open to new experiences, and less agreeable, while they felt more extroverted and more emotionally stable. Participants had their personalities measured at two points during the study, while outside observers video-recorded their behavior.

Antonio Terracciano, PhD

Specifically, we constructed latent difference score models based on the latent factors of each personality trait at baseline and follow-up. Results on the effect of light-to moderate alcohol consumption on personality change were the same when excluding occasional/infrequent drinkers from the reference category. Of note, when using moderate-to-light alcohol consumption as reference category, we observed no effect of heavy vs. moderate drinking on latent scores of personality change. Conceptual model exploring correlated difference scores of alcohol consumption and conscientiousness. Number of drinks/week was used as single indicator of alcohol consumption at baseline and follow-up; this variable were natural log transformed to reduce the skewness of the distribution.

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The recordings were later used to carry out assessments of each individual’s personality. Along with altering certain neurotransmitter receptors to make you feel more relaxed or sedated, it also signals the release of higher levels of the chemical dopamine. “Most importantly, we need to see how this work is most relevant in the clinical realm and can be effectively included in interventions to help reduce any negative impact of alcohol on peoples’ lives,” she concludes. They acknowledge, however, that they cannot rule out other influences — such as participants’ own expectations of their drunk personality — that may have contributed to the discrepancy in ratings.

1. Drinking alcohol can impact your mood and behavior, making it appear as though your core personality has changed.
2. This personality change can lead to dangerous or unsafe behaviors, and even compromise relationships in your life.
3. This activates your brain’s reward center, making you feel really good.
4. So you become more willing to try things you might not normally do—like singing karaoke to Justin Bieber—and get a bigger high from doing it.

Personality did not change that much according to external observers

Winograd and colleagues decided to bring the question into the lab, where they could carefully calibrate alcohol consumption and closely monitor individual behavior. They recruited 156 participants, who completed an initial survey gauging their typical alcohol consumption and their perceptions of their own “typical sober” personality and “typical drunk” personality. Alcohol addiction is a medical condition, and professional help should be sought to address the underlying issues. Your spouse may need addiction treatment, therapy for any emotional or mental health problems, and support from family and friends. The right combination of treatments can help your partner manage their drinking problem and learn how to cope with their emotions without resorting to alcohol.

People who drink are also more likely to have certain personalities. Alcohol and mental health conditions share a two-way relationship. People may develop mental health problems because of their alcohol use.

“When someone who has been a chronic heavy drinker stops drinking, a rebound occurs in which nerve cells become hyperactive,” he explains. Social drinking could lead you to feel a range of emotions and effects, according to research from 2017. GABA is an amino acid that blocks activity in your central nervous system (CNS). When you drink alcohol, this neurotransmitter activity increases, helping you feel more at ease.

For example, lower scores on IQ tests in childhood/adolescence have shown to predict higher alcohol consumption and occurrence of hangovers in middle adulthood (e.g., Batty, Deary, & Macintyre, 2006; Sjölund, Hemmingsson, & Allebeck, 2015). Similarly, childhood personality (low conscientiousness) have been found to predict levels of alcohol consumption in middle-age (e.g., Hampson, Goldberg, Vogt, & Dubanoski, 2006; Kubicka, Matejcek, Dytrych, & Roth, 2001). Moreover, the present work relayed exclusively on self-report data and a single indicator of alcohol drinking, i.e. count of drinks/week. Future research should consider measures of actual alcohol consumption (i.e. physiological tests) or diagnosis of AUDs, as well as self-report and informant ratings to assess personality. Moreover, personality difference scores correlated with changes in the amount of alcohol consumed at follow-up. We conducted our analyses using Mplus 8 (Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2017).

Missing data at follow-up were handled using full information maximum likelihood estimation. The platform offers reliable resources, accessible services, and nurturing communities. Its mission involves educating, supporting, and empowering people in their pursuit of well-being. Because your inhibitions are lower from alcohol, you might say something you don’t really mean and react impulsively. Just like with your moods, alcohol is always affecting your behaviors. Alcohol clouds your judgment and leads to communication problems.