Psychiatric Morbidity and Marital Quality Among Wives of Patients With Alcohol Dependence Syndrome

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Alcohol Dependence syndrome (ADS) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders that has deleterious consequences not only on the patient with ADS but also hampers social, financial, and legal matters of his family hence could be considered as a disorder of the family. Spouses of patients with ADS, a key member of such dysfunctional family system, are most vulnerable to have significant psychiatric disorders like adjustment disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders and psychosocial problems. Hence we have undertaken this study in order to understand and address such issues which is largely neglected in psychiatric research. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the severity of alcohol dependence & its adverse effect on families, the prevalence and pattern of psychiatric morbidity and marital quality in spouses of men with ADS and to explore the association between them. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 60 spouses of males with ADS according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM IV-TR) Criteria were screened for psychiatric morbidity using General Health Questionnaire and the presence of specific psychiatric disorders using Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV AXIS-I & AXIS-II (SCID-I & SCID-II). Severity of alcohol dependence in males and its adverse consequences was assessed using Short Alcohol Dependence Data and Drinkers Inventory of Consequences, respectively. Marital quality was assessed using the marital quality scale. Data obtained was analyzed statistically. RESULTS: High prevalence of Psychiatric morbidity (63.33%) among spouses of alcohol dependent men, with majority having Axis I diagnosis of Major Depression (35%), Anxiety and Adjustment Disorder. None of them had personality disorders on SCID II. Psychiatric morbidity, poor marital quality in spouses and high alcohol dependence in their husbands and its adverse consequences were found to be significantly correlated with each other and their association was robust particularly Impulse Control, Interpersonal and Social Responsibility were most affected. CONCLUSION: Spouses of alcohol dependent men have high Psychiatric morbidity and low Marital Quality. Addressing these issues will be beneficial as spouses are known to play an important role in the treatment of ADS.

Psychiatric Morbidity among Spouses of Men with Alcohol Dependence

“…It was observed in this study that diagnosis of anxiety was higher in spouses of alcoholic husbands (16%) as compared with those of nonalcoholic husbands (12%). These findings were in concordance with findings of Bagul et al 6 and Gohil et al 8 A prominent finding noticed in this study was that 18 (36%) spouses of alcohol-dependent men had depression, whereas in controls, it was seen in only 7 (14%) spouses. These findings were similar to the studies conducted in similar areas in different parts of the world.…”

“…In similar studies, it was found that the majority of spouses of men with alcohol dependence syndrome were in the age group of 24 to 50 years, which was in concordance with our study. 3,5,6 In this study, it was also seen that the psychiatric morbidities among spouses of men with alcohol dependence were significantly higher in the cases as compared with controls. It was observed in studies conducted by Mammen et al 7 and Bagul et al 6 that prevalence of psychiatric morbidities in wives of men with alcohol dependence syndrome was similar.…”

“…In a similar study conducted by Kishor et al, 3 psychiatric morbidities and marital satisfaction among spouses were studied, and they found that the majority of spouses of men with alcohol dependence syndrome were commonly diagnosed with major depressive disorder (43.3%) followed by dysthymia (35%), double depression (15%), and panic disorder (15%). Bagul et al, 6 in their study, found out that 35% of the spouses had depressive disorders, out of which the majority were diagnosed as major depressive disorder (13.33%) and dysthymia (21.67%). Tempier et al 9 did a study on psychological distress among spouses of alcoholic men and observed that they have higher levels of psychological distress.…”

“…In this study, it was found that the majority of spouses diagnosed as depression were in the age group of 31 to 40 years, which was similar in both the groups, and it was statistically significant. Bagul et al 6 found that psychiatric morbidity was more prevalent in spouses of men with alcohol dependence aged between 31 and 50 years. In a study done by Mammen et al, 7 they found that 70% of the spouses having psychiatric morbidity belonged to the age group of 35 to 45 years.…”

Psychiatric morbidity in spouses of patients with alcohol related disorders

“…Forty-one percent of the couples having their duration of marital life between 1 and 10 years and psychiatric morbidity were also present to be more among them constituting about 29.7%. This is in contrast to the study done from Maharashtra,[ 9 ] where they observed more of psychiatric illness in spouses married for more than 21 years and they got significant association between psychiatric morbidity of spouses with their duration of marital life; this may be lower number of couples in the group above 21 years of married life in this study. We did not observe any statistical significant difference between the groups.…”