Locus of control and neuropsychological performance in chronic alcoholics

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Abstract
Correlated neuropsychological performance and three dimensions of Locus of Control (LOC) were examined in 62 hospitalized male chronic alcoholics and 24 non-alcoholic males drawn from the community. Performance deficits in alcoholic Ss correlated significantly with high scores on the Chance (LOC-C) and Powerful Others (LOC-PO) scales for approximately half of the measures employed, while no such correlations were significant in the controls. Correlations between performance and scores on the Internal (LOC-I) scale were negligible. Controls scored significantly higher than alcoholics on the Internal dimension; Chance and Powerful Others orientation were not significantly different in the two groups. From these and other results we conclude: (a) alcoholics and controls manifest similar but not identical LOC orientations; (b) alcoholics and controls show different relationships between neuropsychological performance and LOC orientation; and (c) the correlation between LOC variables and performance in alcoholics cannot account for the widespread differences in performance levels between the two groups.