This paper examines the clinical relevance and validity of Cloninger’s type I and type II alcoholism in a sample of 108 residentially treated alcoholics. In terms of prevalence, our findings are problematic. Due to a large symptom overlap, it is almost impossible to allocate patients to either type I or type II alcoholism. Only 7% of our sample fulfilled the criteria for either type I or type II. Our most problematic finding pertains to the conceptual validity of Cloninger’s theory. This theory comprises two elements: a distinction based on addiction characteristics and an underlying distinction based on personality profile. In our sample, we found a complete lack of overlap between type I and type II alcoholism classification based on addiction characteristics and a classification between type I and type II alcoholism based on personality traits.

Keywords:
Cloninger’s typology, Alcoholism
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© 1995 S. Karger AG, Basel
1995
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