Excessive Behaviours: An Archival Study of Behavioural Tendencies Reported by 471 Patients Admitted to an Addiction Treatment Centre

Abstract

We report a factor analytic study of the Promis questionnaires, designed to evaluate addiction in 16 behavioural areas. Data were taken from the clinical records of 191 men and 281 women admitted to the Promis Recovery Centre for treatment of addictions. Primary scale factor scores were obtained for each patient and subjected to factor analysis. A two-factor solution (oblique rotation) was indicated. Factor 1 (“Nurturanee”) included Caffeine, Work, Exploitative relationships (submissive). Shopping, Exercise, Food bingeing, Food starving and Compulsive helping (dominant and submissive). Factor 2 (“Hedonism”) comprised Alcohol, Nicotine, Recreational Drugs, Gambling, Exploitative relationships (dominant). Sex and Prescription drugs. Factor 1 was strongly associated with primary diagnoses of Overeating, Bulimia and Anorexia, and Factor 2 with Drug problems, and to a lesser extent Alcohol. When controlling for the effects of diagnosis women generally scored high on Nurturanee, but were no less Hedonistic than men. Men and women share broadly the same factor structures.

Key Words:

• Addiction
• factor analysis
• drug problems
• food disorders
• alcohol abuse
• cross addiction