Regarding treatment, alcohol interventions could employ strategies to reduce personality traits and corresponding motives for alcohol use that are linked to drinking (Littlefield et al., 2009; Littlefield et al., in press). For example, based on evidence that suggests corresponding changes between neuroticism and work satisfaction, researchers have recently proposed career counseling as a possible intervention to decrease neuroticism (Scollon & Diener, 2006). Other interventions ranging from cognitive skills programs to exercise regimes (Baumeister, Gailliot, DeWall, & Oaten, 2006) may lead to self-regulation and, therefore, decreases in impulsivity. Conrod et al. (2000) designed treatments customized to individuals with different substance use motivations associated with various dimension of personality, and empirical evidence suggests this approach has merit (especially for individuals high in sensation seeking; see Conrod, Castellanos, & Mackie, 2008). As coping motives appear to be an especially important mediator of the personality-alcohol relation, treatments targeting coping skills (see Marlatt & Witkiewitz, 2009; Witkiewitz & Marlatt, 2004) may also result in reductions in alcohol problems.
