From the standpoint of assessment, the association of changes in personality with changes in alcohol involvement also has clinical relevance. Though speculative, changes in both problematic drinking behaviors and personality may indicate that the individual has undergone substantial and beneficial change that is likely to be durable, whereas changes in drinking behaviors but not personality may signal increased risk for relapse or continued risk for associated problem behaviors. Clearly, this is highly speculative, but with respect to treatment, alcohol interventions could adjunctively target strategies to reduce personality traits related to drinking. For example, on the basis of links found between neuroticism and work satisfaction, researchers have recently suggested career counseling as a possible intervention to decrease neuroticism (Scollon & Diener, 2006). Similarly, interventions ranging from exercise regimes to cognitive skills programs (Baumeister, Gailliot, DeWall, & Oaten, 2006) aid increased self-regulation and, consequently, may facilitate developmental changes in impulsivity. In light of the current findings, this research suggests that interventions on career counseling and other relevant interventions may also be considered as a part of alcohol treatment. Obviously, support for these
