The quality of life when a partner has substance use problems: a scoping review

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine the existing body of knowledge on quality of life (QoL) in partners of people with substance use problems (PP-SUPs) to provide a synthesized summary of the evidence and identify gaps in our knowledge on the QoL of PP-SUPs.MethodsA systematic scoping review was performed. Publications indexed in EMBASE, Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, SocINDEX, and CENTRAL were searched for original, empirical, peer-reviewed, full-length research papers that examined QoL in PP-SUPs. Research papers identified through a manual search of key references and known references by co-authors were also included. A total of 3070 abstracts were screened, 41 full-text papers examined, and nine were found to meet the inclusion criteria. Eligibility was determined in two steps by four and two independent researchers, respectively. The main findings were explored by content analysis.ResultsEight of the nine included studies had quantitative designs, one had a mixed methods design, and no qualitative studies were found. Three studies were conducted exclusively among PP-SUPs, whereas the others included various subgroups. A majority of participants were women, and no study was conducted exclusively among men. Nearly half of the studies reported on whether there were minor children in the PP-SUPs’ household. The studies used established and generic QoL instruments based on different conceptual and theoretical perspectives on QoL. A majority of the studies found lower QoL in PP-SUPs than in general population, with substance use by the person with a SUP having the most impact on QoL of all evaluated factors. Two studies reported that gender was associated with QoL, with poor QoL being associated with being a male partner and vice versa for female partners.ConclusionsFurther research is needed to examine QoL in PP-SUPs exclusively. A variety of QoL instruments covering various, but limited, dimensions of the concept have been used in previous studies of PP-SUPs. Thus, obtaining a comprehensive understanding of PP-SUPs’ QoL is challenging. Both qualitative and large-scale quantitative designs should be used in research on QoL in PP-SUPs, particularly among those with a parenting role.

Functioning of Concerned Others When Adults Enter Treatment for an Alcohol Use Disorder

“…In light of Birkeland and colleagues' () finding of an association between problem severity of the person using substances and the CO's poorer quality of life, it was perhaps surprising that we did not find support for this association. Similar to our study, however, spouses’ alcohol consumption was unrelated to the other spouse's subsequent depression symptoms (Homish et al., ).…”

“…Quality of life is now one of the most common indicators of functioning, as it utilizes respondents’ perceptions and expectations to capture the lived experiences of addiction, treatment, relapse, and recovery (Laudet et al., ; Muller et al., ). A review reported that most of 9 studies of partners of people with substance use problems found that partners have a lower quality of life than the general population (Birkeland et al., ).…”

“…Broader capture of COs’ functioning than quality of life alone is recommended to provide a more holistic understanding of COs’ life situations and to inform intervention (Birkeland et al., ). COs also suffer in the domain of mental health status (Karriker‐Jaffe et al., ).…”

“…Poorer functioning among COs has been attributed in part to the greater severity of the problems of the person with the substance use disorder (Orford, ). The review by Birkeland and colleagues () found that severity had more impact on partners’ quality of life than other factors, such as positive interactions between the drinker and the partner. In addition, families or couples in which alcohol problems are present often evolve to have poor interaction patterns, problem‐solving, and ways of communicating (McCrady et al., ).…”

Predictors of family focused practice: organisation, profession, or the role as child responsible personnel?

“…This study was part of an exploratory, cross-sectional, multi-centre study, the Children of Ill Parents (CHIP)-study [45], with data collected from patients that were parents, the other parent/adult [66–69], children and adolescents (8-18 years) [69–72], children’s teachers, health professionals treating the ill parents, health professionals in the role of CRP, managers/ leaders, and hospital coordinators (H-CRP) [11, 46].…”