Observations Of Conjointly Hospitalized “Alcoholic Couples” During Sobriety And Intoxication: Implications For Theory and Therapy

Abstract

This paper presents clinical data from a research study designed to examine the relation between alcohol consumption and interactional behavior in "alcoholic couples". The central innovative feature of the study was the simultaneous admission to an inpatient setting of up to three couples, one or both members of which was alcoholic. The in-patient experience was part of an intensive, six-week, multiple-couples, group-therapy program. During hospitalization couples were encouraged to reproduce as closely as possible their usual drinking patterns and interactional behavior. Therapists utilized observations of interactional behavior during intoxication and sobriety to formulate central interactional and psychological issues for each couple. The authors utilized these same observations to develop the interactional model of alcoholism in families that is presented in detail in this paper. This model is an extension of earlier work delimiting an interactional theory of alcoholism based on general systems concepts.

The Alcoholic Family at Home

“…4 physical interaction ratios, movement rate, and percent of nega¬ tive and positive outcomes for their verbal exchanges. 5. Content Variability, a measure of the extent to which questions were raised during the coding sessions that required a decision to be made, as well as the affective level associated with the family interactions and the variability they displayed along these two dimensions.…”

Alcohol Problems, Marriage, and Treatment: Developing a Theoretical Timeline

“…Studies that attempted to recreate the circumstances of intoxication were popular in the 1970s and some innovative research methods were developed in this phase, such as the use of experimental intoxication research (Steinglass, Davis, & Berenson, 1977). Although this method did provide unique insights into the world of alcohol and marital communication, the ethical questions about allowing, indeed encouraging, intoxication for research purposes have terminated this type of study methodology.…”

“…In one of the well-known studies of this type, Steinglass, Davis, and Berenson (1977) studied conjointly hospitalized couples. Their decision to include "experimentally induced intoxication" is seen as a reason why there were difficulties getting volunteers for the study.…”

Family therapy and psychopathology: developments in research and approaches to treatment

“…One particularly interesting finding demonstrated that during intoxication, interactions were exaggerated and more restricted in range; thus more extreme yet more predictable. I t was concluded by Steinglass and his colleagues that the alcohol served a short-term adaptive problem-solving function in the marriage (Steinglass et al, 1977). These clinical findings are provocative but should also be viewed cautiously given the small sample size (n = 10) and absence of a control group.…”