Marital satisfaction among spouses of male patients with alcohol dependence syndrome

Abstract

BACKGROUND

One third of Indians consume alcohol and there is an alarming annual increase in alcohol consumption. Majority of spouses of alcohol dependent males are the primary care-takers of their husbands who are at risk of domestic violence. Marital dissatisfaction reduces their involvement in getting their husbands treated for alcohol dependence. With this background this study had begun with the aim of studying the marital satisfaction among the spouses of patients with alcohol dependence which enhances treatment outcomes of the alcohol dependent male patients.

METHODOLOGY

This study was conducted on two hundred consecutive spouses of males with alcohol dependence syndrome attending the psychiatry department of a tertiary care Medical college hospital in Kanchipuram district after obtaining the Institutional Ethical Committee clearance and informed consent. Male patients were screened for alcohol dependence syndrome using the ICD 10 criteria. Severity of alcohol dependence was assessed using Short Alcohol Dependence Data (SADD). Marital satisfaction among spouse was assessed using ENRICH Marital Satisfaction (EMS) Scale. Analysis of the data was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0.

RESULTS

The mean age of alcohol dependent men and their spouses were 43.05±9.39 and 37.58±8.86 years respectively. Most of the spouses (83.5%) had done their primary education only and 50% were house-wives (unemployed). Majority of men earned between Rs.5000 to 10,000 and most of them were unskilled workers belonging to the lower socio-economic group in the rural areas.    

     The mean SADD and EMS scores were 25.05±8.891 and 31.76 respectively. 74% of men in our study population were highly dependent on alcohol. 49.5% & 21% of spouses who suffered from moderate and low marital satisfaction had their husbands’ severely dependent on alcohol.

DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION

Majority of alcohol dependent men suffered from severe dependence. An inverse relationship between marital satisfaction scores and severity of alcohol dependence was observed. This study concludes that alcohol dependence and its severity had a significant impact on the marital satisfaction among the spouses.

KEY WORDS: Alcohol dependence, Spouses, Marital satisfaction.