The two subtypes also have proven useful for predicting which group has the best chance of recovery from alcoholism. Type A alcoholics generally exhibit better outcomes (Babor et al. 1992). Finally, and perhaps most important from a practical perspective, this typology may help clinicians match patients to specific treatments that will be the most effective for their type of alcoholism (Litt et al. 1992) (for an update of findings regarding the type A-type B distinction, see the article by Allen, pp. 24–29). The type A-type B distinction implies quantitative, as well as qualitative, differences among alcoholics. That is, in addition to indicating that two categories of alcoholics exist with characteristic profiles, this formulation suggests that alcoholics differ along a general dimension or continuum characterized as low risk-low severity at one end and high risk-high severity at the other. Several other investigations have confirmed this finding (e.g., Goodwin et al. 1994). Women and men may simply fall at different extremes along this dimension, or important differences may exist between the genders in terms of subtype profiles.
