Marital Stability among Wives of Alcoholics: An Evaluation of Three Explanations

Abstract

British Journal or.A.ddirtion 76(1981] 175-189 OO7-O89O/81/Oi23O!7,')SO2.OO ummary Sixty women currently or formerly married to alcoholics were interviewed in order to assess the stressfulness of their marriage, stressfulness of their childhoods, and their closeness to divorce. In support of sociological predictions, the more stressful the marriage the closer the wife was to divorce. Contrary to psychoanalytic predictions, personality disturbance, inde.xed by stressfulness of childhood, did not correlate with closeness to divorce. Factor analytically derived subscales of marital and childhood stressors showed a .significant psychosocial interaction; wives shy as children were more likely than their more outgoing counterparts to endure their husbands^ verbal abuse of them and their children. In addition, influence by others to separate, positive attitudes toward divorce, fear of violence, and little or no good period early in marriage all correlated positively with closeness to divorce. Possible alternative explanations for the present results and needed future research are discussed.

Family Discord is Associated with Increased Substance Use for Pregnant Substance Users

“…The women with family discord received about 20% more treatment during this time than did the women without family discord. While women, in general, receive less family support to enter treatment than do men (Maisto et al, 1995; O’Farrell et al, 1981) these studies did not focus specifically on women who were pregnant. To evaluate this finding further, we examined available data on the safety of the living situation of the participants.…”

“…Retaining pregnant women in treatment, however, can be challenging (Kissin, Svikis, Moylan, Haug, & Stitzer, 2004). Compared to men, women may face lack of family or partner support to enter treatment (Maisto, McKay, & O’Farrell, 1995; O’Farrell, Harrison, & Cutter, 1981). Substance abusing pregnant women are more likely to have a partner who is also a substance abuser (Bendersky, Alessandri, Gilbert, & Lewis, 1996; Bresnahan, Zuckerman, & Cabral, 1992; Hutchins & DiPietro, 1997) and men’s rates of substance use do not decrease during their partner’s pregnancy (Bailey, Hill, Hawkins, Catalano, & Abbott, 2008).…”

Benefits and Costs of Alcoholic Relationships and Recovery Through Al-Anon

“…Hayes and Anderson (1993) found women experiencing marital dissolution identified financial insecurity and being alone as the two primary causes of their fear. O'Farrell, Harrison, and Cutter (1981) found fear of violence among wives of alcoholics was significantly associated with those wives' closeness to divorce. Yet the act of leaving a relationship could trigger a violent episode, and the fear of this episode increases the benefit of sustaining the relationship.…”

New approaches in detecting the psychological risk factors of living in alcoholic families

“…Kada su u pitanju supruge alkoholiĉara, u literaturi je višestruko opisano kako one neretko poseduju samoporaţavajuća uverenja, sklone su povlaĉenju iz socijalnih kontakata do nivoa socijalne izolacije, razvijaju permanentni doţivljaj iscrpljenosti i manifestuju razliĉite forme psiholoških i somatskih bolesti i poremećaja (Lewis, 1937;Finney et al, 1983;Gomberg, 1989;Watts et al, 1994;O"Farrell et al, 1981;Nastasić, 2011;Laţetić, 2011).…”