The International Journal of the Addictions, 12(2-3), 41 1 4 1 5 . 1977

Research Note

Attitudes Regarding Alcoholism among a Group of Drinking Drivers

Larry Hart**?

Services for Traffic Safety Boston, Massachusetts

Abstract

Ninety-four drinking drivers were surveyed to assess their attitudes on nine factors related to alcoholism and the alcoholic. Each of the factors was assessed according to Marcus’ criterion. Two factors were extracted which differed from those of the general population norm group. These drinking drivers were positive in their belief that periodic excessive drinkers can be alco- holics and negative in their attitude regarding alcoholism as an illness. It was noted that apart from these two factors, these drinking drivers were equally ambivalent in their attitudes

* The opinions, findings, and conclusions reported in this paper are those of the author and not necessarily those of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the US. Department of Transportation. t Present address: Rehabilitation Counseling Psychology Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706.

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Copyright 0 1977 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Neither this work nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any infor- mation storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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412 HART

toward alcoholism and the alcoholic when compared to the norm group.

It appears that the direction research has taken in the area of atti- tudes toward alcoholism has been concerned with (1) assessing the atti- tudes of those individuals who are directly or indirectly involved in treating the alcoholic (Chodorkoff, 1967; Ferneau and Morton, 1968), and (2) society, its mores, values, sanctions, and knowledge regarding the alcoholic and his alcoholism (Haberman and Steinberg, 1970). A con- sequence of this approach has been that researchers have failed to report on the attitudes of the problem drinker and the alcoholic. It is because of the importance of these attitudes in treatment (Mueller and Ferneau, 1971) and the necessity to assess the beliefs toward alcoholism among various drinking groups that this writer has chosen to survey the attitudes regarding alcoholism among a potentially dangerous group of drinkers, those that drive under the influence of liquor.

The subjects were 94 male drinking drivers w h o were clients of the Boston Alcohol Safety Action Project (ASAP). ASAP is one of 35 federally funded nationwide sites whose aims are to get the drinking driver off the road and reduce the number of alcohol-related accidents and fatalities.

The instrument employed to survey the attitudes of the subjects was a 40-statement questionnaire developed as a result of a factor analytic study by Marcus (1963a). Reliability and validity estimating the instru- ment are not available; however, the questionnaire has been shown to be a useful assessment tool (Ferneau and Morton, 1968; Mueller and Ferneau, 197 1). The questionnaire was administered to the subjects during their first class meeting in the ASAP Alcohol Education Program during the fall of 1974. After the subjects completed the questionnaire, each state- ment was compiled into a group of nine factors. Later, the nine mean factor scores (MFS) were compared with a norm group which was a general population group (Marcus, 1963b). The lowest MFS possible is 1 and the highest is 7. Operationally, we will define an ambivalent MFS as one which falls within the range of 3.00 to 5.00.

If a high score was obtained on Factors 1, 2, 4, and 9, then this would indicate a “positive” attitude, while a high score on Factors 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 would indicate a “negative” attitude. In assessing the significance of the difference in mean factor scores, Marcus (1963a, p. 9) suggests that “one should ignore mean factor score differences that are less than .50 and pay particular attention to those that are greater than 1 .OO.” Marcus’ sugges- tions will be followed here.

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ATTITUDES REGARDING ALCOHOLISM AMONG DRIVERS 41 3

The difference between the drinking group’s MFS and the norm group’s MFS was less than than 0.50 on Factors I , 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9. As per Marcus’ suggestion regarding the MFS differences less than 0.50, this writer will not discuss these factors here.

One factor has an MFS difference greater than 0.50 but less than 1.00. On Factor 7 (alcoholism is an illness) the drinking group’s MFS was 3.66, while the MFS for the norm group was 3.07, a difference of .59. This difference was, for this drinking driver group, in a more negative direction. This suggests that these respondents are not as likely to believe that alcoholism is an illness.

An MFS difference greater than 1.00 was found on one factor. On Factor 4 (alcoholic as a steady drinker) a high score indicates a positive attitude, The drinking driver group’s MFS was 5.22, while the norm group’s was 3.18, a difference of 2.04. These scores indicate that the drinking group is more likely to believe that periodic-excessive drinkers can be alcoholics than the norm group.

The results of this survey indicate that the drinking driver group was equally ambivalent as the norm group concerning their beliefs on three issues related to the alcoholic and his alcoholism. Both groups believed to the same extent, and in ambivalent fashion, about the alcoholic’s prognosis for recovery, the character of the alcoholic, and the addicting potential of alcohol.

The norm group was ambivalent, while the drinking drivers were posi- tive in the beliefs that periodic-excessive drinkers can be alcoholic, and that the alcoholic is not a harmless drinker whose drinking is motivated only by his fondness for alcohol. Furthermore, the norm group was positive, while the drinking drivers were ambivalent in the belief that emotional difficulties and psychological problems are contributing factors in the etiology of alcoholism.

The drinking drivers appear to be conflicted about several issues related to alcoholism. For example, while they believe that the alcoholic cannot control his drinking behavior and that the drinking is not a harm- less voluntary indulgence, they are undecided about the issues related to alcoholism as an illness and alcohol as a highly addicting substance. It appears that the area of conflict is related to the physiological and psy- chological effects of alcohol ingestion. This is given further support by the ambivalent position that these drinking drivers have taken on Factor 7- not ascribing to the disease concept of alcoholism.

Another area of conflict for these drinking drivers is seen in their responses to Factors 8, I , and 5. Although they acknowledge that the

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414 HART

alcoholic is not a harmless heavy drinker whose drinking is “motivated” only by his fondness for alcohol, they deny the role of emotional difficulties and do not accept that the alcoholic is not a weak-willed person. It seems that they are defensive in the area of the alcoholic’s psychological health and his self-control.

The results of this study suggest that administrators and teachers of alcohol education programs might consider assessing the opinions and knowledge that their students hold about alcoholism. Such an analysis coupled with teaching targeted in various areas might aid the student’s acquisition of the desired subject matter. For example, this assessment of the attitudes of drinking drivers might aid the teachers in the ASAP alcohol education program to taylor their teaching in the area of the phy- siological and psychological effects of alcohol ingestion. In addition, the teachers could discuss the effects of alcohol abuse on an individual’s emotional health. Such structured teaching might enhance and facilitate alcoholism treatment, when and if the ASAP clients are referred to an alcoholism counselor.

This paper has reported the attitudes toward alcoholism among 94 drinking drivers at the ASAP of Boston. It was stated that this group of drinking drivers was equally ambivalent on seven factors regarding the alcoholic and his alcoholism when compared with a general population norm group. Second, the areas of conflict among this group surveyed appeared to be related to the etiology of alcoholism and the development of the disease and its effects on physiological and psychological function- ing.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report was prepared under the Alcohol Counter Measures Pro- gram of the Boston Alcohol Safety Action Project contract with the De- partment of Transportation, Contract No. DOT-HS-075-1-098.

The author would like to express his appreciation to Milton Argeriou and Lavinia DeStefano for their thoughtful criticisms and assistance in the development of this manuscript.

REFERENCES

CHODORKOFF, B. Alcoholism education in a psychiatric institute. 1. Medical students: Relationship of personal characteristics, attitudes toward alcoholism and achievement. Q. J. Stud. Alcohol 28: 723-730, 1967.

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ATTITUDES REGARDING ALCOHOLISM AMONG DRIVERS 41 5

FERNEAU, E., and MORTON, E. Nursing personnel and alcoholism. Nurs. Res. 17: 174-177, 1968.

HABERMAN, P., and STEINBERG, J. Public attitudes toward alcoholism as an illness. A m . J . Public Health 59: 1209-1216, 1970.

MARCUS, A. Alcoholism Questionnaire. Mimeographed. Toronto, Canada: Alcohol and Drug Addiction Research Foundation, 1963a.

MARCUS, A. A Comparison of Opinions about Alcoholism in Four Populations. Mimeo- graphed. Toronto, Canada: Alcohol and Drug Addiction Research Foundation, 1963b.

MUELLER, S., and FERNEAU, E. Attitudes toward alcoholism among a group of college students. Int. J. Addict. 3 : 443451, 1971.

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