Studies have reported positive associations between executive functioning and maintenance of sobriety. For example, Loeber et al. (2010) reported that improvement of attention and executive functioning, measured by the Trail-Making Test and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, occurred within the second of two three-month follow-up sessions subsequent to initial detoxification. Also, Pitel et al. (2009) reported that alcoholic patients who abstained over a six month interval returned to levels of performance comparable to nonalcoholic controls on executive functioning tasks measuring inhibition, flexibility, and updating, while recovery was not observed for relapsers. Additionally, factors such as relapse rates and personality disorders have been associated with different outcomes in recovery of executive functioning. Andó et al. (2012) compared personality traits in recovering alcoholics abstinent for 12 weeks to those abstinent for three years or more. Compared to the long-term abstinent patients, the short-term abstinent patients perceived higher levels of stress and used non-adaptive coping strategies. However, both groups showed evidence of persistent decision-making deficits. The researchers suggested that an adaptive personality profile of stress reduction skills and effective coping strategies likely helps to compensate for decision-making deficits and assists in maintaining long-term abstinence.
