A Rorschach investigation of oral-dependence in alcoholics

The psychoanalytic and psychodynamic understandings of alcohol misuse often associated problematic drinking with a character type originally referred to as "oral-dependent."Utilization of the Rorschach Inkblot Test to provide empirical support for such an association has yielded mixed results. The present study used the Rorschach Oral-Dependency (ROD) scale to investigate groups of nonclinical undergraduates, clinical depression and clinical alcohol misusers. Dichotomous and tripartite models of oral dependence are discussed, and parametric and nonparametric analyses, respectively, were conducted in order to evaluate these models in regard to the samples under study. The Clinical groups were found to have higher mean ROD scores. This supports psychoanalytic formulations of depressive and alcohol disorders, as well as the validity of the ROD scale. In addition, nonparametric analysis revealed that relatively many undergraduates and alcohol misusers scored in the low range of ROD scores. This finding is discussed in terms of the models of oral-dependence.