Psychopathology and personality traits associated with driving while intoxicated in Beijing, China: Implications for interventions.

Background And Objectives: Driving while intoxicated (DWI) represents an area of grave concern in China, yet little research has focused on it or on the personality traits and psychiatric disorders among these drivers.

Methods: We enrolled 325 of 382 residents charged with DWI in a compulsory detention center in Beijing, China. And 351 male drivers who had never had any alcohol arrests as control participants. All were screened for Axis I disorders using the Chinese version of the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-TR (SCID), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), and the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF).

Results: The subjects were all males with a mean (±SD) age of 34.41 ± 8.48 years, and almost 30% met DSM-IV criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence (n = 92). Compared to normal controls they showed greater Social Boldness, Abstractedness, Apprehension, Liveliness and Tension, and poorer Reasoning, Vigilance, Openness to Change, and Self-reliance. On the MMPI-2, DWI subjects showed greater Hypochondriasis, Psychopathic Deviate, Paranoia, Psychasthenia, Schizophrenia and Hypomania; and lower Social introversion.

Conclusions And Scientific Significance: Severe alcohol problems are more common in Beijing's drunk drivers than in the Chinese general population. These DWI drivers also have a broad variety of traits that increase their tendency to be venturesome and socially bold while enjoying excitement and risk-taking. (Am J Addict 2017;26:374-378).