The purpose of the research described in this article is to examine: a) whether blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at the time of arrest for drunken driving is a useful predictor either of problem drinking or alcoholism; and b) what relationship exists between BAC and typical alcohol consumption and/or alcohol dependence. A sample of 235 convicted drinking and driving offenders was used for the study. These people had all been referred to a drinking driving treatment and evaluation programme and are likely to have more severe alcohol related problems than the general DWI (driving while intoxicated) population. Each person was interviewed to assess the number of alcohol-related problems he/she had and his/her typical alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption assessment is based on the Armor and Polich questions and calculations and alcohol related problems are assessed according to the criteria laid down by Vaillant and Cahalan. Each person was also given a clinical evaluation, and three different alcohol diagnoses were used: DSM-III diagnosis made by the physicians, DSM-III based on information from the interview and Mortimer-Filkins tests; and DSM-III-R based on the interview and Mortimer-Filkins test. No relationship was found between BAC and either alcohol related problems, or alcohol dependence, or problem drinking.
Samenvatting