A quantitative analysis of the linguistic features of autobiographical narratives in individuals with addictive disorders and tobacco smokers

The present study investigated linguistic markers of identity-related processes in autobiographical narratives of individuals with addictive disorders, tobacco smokers, and control participants using quantitative linguistic analysis (LIWC-22). Seventy-two participants were recruited: patients with addictive disorders under treatment (n = 24), tobacco smokers (n = 24), and controls (n = 24). Self-narratives were collected by administering a semi-structured interview covering nine macro-areas relevant for individuals’ life stories: open-ended narrative; present; personal past and episodic memory; experience with desire; risk-taking behaviors; control strategies; loss of control; the short-term future; the long-term future. Linguistic categories analyzed were first-person singular pronouns, cognitive mechanisms (causation and insight), and positive and negative emotion-related words. Main results revealed that the addiction group used a higher percentage of first-person singular pronouns than the smoking group, while both the addiction and the smoking groups used a lower percentage of causation words compared to controls. In addition, individuals with addictive disorders showed a lower frequency in the use of insight-related words in their narratives than both the smoking and control groups. Finally, smoking participants produced a higher percentage of positive emotion-related words when narrating the present, and more negative emotion-related words in the loss of control than in other macro-areas and control group. These results revealed similarities and differences in linguistic profiles in different forms of addictive behaviors and emphasize the relevance of narrative analysis as a tool for exploring identity-related processes in addiction.