Personality, Family History, and Alcohol Use Among Older Men: The VA Normative Aging Study

Background: We examined personality traits (Sociability, Impulsivity, Neuroticism) as mediators of the effects of family history on alcohol outcomes. Methods: A sample of 485 men reported on family history of alcohol problems in 1973, completed the Eysenck Personality Inventory in 1976, and responded to a survey on alcohol use in 1982. Results: Using structural equation modeling, family history was found to have direct effects on number of drinks per day and on the number of alcohol problems, as well as indirect effects mediated through Neuroticism. There were no effects of Sociability or Impulsivity on either alcohol outcome. Conclusions: In this sample of older men, family history had both direct and indirect effects, and personality traits found to affect alcohol outcomes were different from those that have been found in younger men.