In 2013, we measured social deviance proneness, antisocial disposition, and both lifetime and current antisocial symptoms in both short-term abstinent alcoholics (STAA) and long-term abstinent alcoholics (LTAA) compared to controls (Fein and Fein, 2013). Lifetime antisocial symptoms, social deviance proneness, and antisocial disposition were highly elevated in both STAA and LTAA. Current antisocial symptoms were dramatically reduced in LTAA compared to STAA, close to levels observed in controls. In contrast, social deviance proneness and antisocial disposition remained highly elevated in LTAA, comparable to STAA. These findings suggest that antisocial behaviors are reduced in extended abstinence despite continued social deviance proneness and antisocial disposition, consistent with the notion that extended abstinence requires strong “top-down” executive control to inhibit deviance-prone tendencies.
