The self-image of patients with alcohol-use disorder in basic and advanced therapy programmes and those without this disorder: a preliminary study

Introduction
The study was an attempt to verify whether patients with alcohol-use disorder (AUD) in an advanced therapy programme differ from AUD patients participating in basic therapy as well as from persons without AUD in terms of their identity, meaning of life and self-esteem.

Material and methods
The study included 91 persons (30 patients participated in the basic the­rapy programme, 31 in the advanced therapy programme and 30 in the control group). Participants completed the Multidimensional Identity Questionnaire, the Life Attitude Profile-Revised and the Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory.

Results
The variance analysis showed that patients with AUD achieve lower identity scores than those without AUD. Moreover, in the meaning of life area, AUD patients at an advanced stage of therapy obtained lower results than people without AUD on the Control of life. Patients at the basic stage of therapy obtained lower results than both other groups in terms of Goal and higher scores in terms of Existential Void compared to the non-AUD group. No differences were observed in all three study groups as regards self-esteem.

Discussion
Patients with AUD from both stages of the therapy programme do not differ in terms of identity, meaning of life and self-esteem. They show greater difficulties concerning the sense of identity (and its dimensions), slight differences in the sense of meaning of life and no differences in self- esteem in comparison with non AUD persons.

Conclusions
Patients with AUD who follow the basic AUD therapy programme do not differ in self- image from those who follow the advanced programme.