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Partners Make A Difference In Recovery Outcomes

A respectable amount of data has been collected on predictors of recovery following treatment of individuals with alcohol-use disorders (AUDs). However, most of that information has been either retrospective or looked at only short-term recovery. This study looked at the role of psychological and social factors in a sample of alcoholics and their partners as predictors of recovery during a nine year period.

For nine years, researchers assessed and monitored “life functioning” of 134 community-based, coupled men. (Participants were identified from an ongoing study of families at high risk for AUDs who had met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual criteria for AUDs, i.e. abuse and dependence.) Their partners were also assessed. Predictors of recovery included treatment experiences, education, partner’s AUD status, amount of AA participation, non-smoking, and the partner’s social support network. Interestingly the alcoholic’s initial severity of drinking did not predict long-term outcome.

Results demonstrated the importance of interpersonal factors in both maintaining AUDs or promoting recovery. The researchers contend that consideration of partner characteristics and marital context as factors in the recovery process is essential.

(McAweeney, MJ, Zucker, RA, Fitzgerald, HE, Puttler, LI, Wong, MM: Individual and partner predictors of recovery from alcohol-use disorder over a nine-year interval: Findings from a community sample of alcoholic married men. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 66:220-228, 2005.)

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