My view is that "we can only clean up our side of the street." We alcoholics want to control everything .. and sometimes in recovery, we try to do too much that is out of our control.
For me, my character defects led me to feel stressed, angry, worried, scared, etc. -- and yes, these feelings led me to drink in the past.
However, I think if your defects are hurting someone else, then this is what the amends process is all about in a step program.
So, I would focus on your own character defects and not someone else's (e.g. don't take everyone else's inventory), but if your defect is bothering someone else and it therefore is bothering you, use the amends process to clean it up and release you from those negative feelings that lead to drinking.