Alcohol Abuse, Violence, and Neurological Impairment

The relationship between the frequency and severity of violence and three parameters of alcohol abuse (acuteness, chronicity, and age of onset) was examined retrospectively in a sample of forensic psychiatric patients. Subjects were further compared with respect to electroencephalographic characteristics. Acuteness and chronicity of alcohol abuse were found to be related to severity but not to frequency of violence. Acute alcohol abusers appeared to suffer from more severe central nervous system impairment than did nonabusers. Age of onset of alcohol abuse was found to have little impact on the variables examined. Results are discussed in the framework of empirically derived typologies of psychopathology.