Verbal Aggression Among Male Alcoholic Patients and Their Wives in the Year Before and Two Years After Alcoholism Treatment

• NCJ Number: 186394
• Journal: Journal of Family Violence Volume: 15 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2000 Pages: 295-310
• Author(s): Timothy J. O'Farrell; Christopher M. Murphy; Tara M. Neavins; Valerie Van Hutton
• Editor(s): Vincent B. Van Hasselt, Michel Hersen
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): RO1 AA 08637
• Sponsoring Agency: Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation; Veterans Admin; US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Portions of paper presented at the Annual Convention of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, 1996, New York.

Annotation

Earlier reports on 88 male alcoholics and their wives showed domestic violence decreased significantly in the first and second years following a behavior marital therapy (BMT) alcoholism treatment program, and the present study examined verbal aggression in the same sample.

Abstract

The alcoholic sample involved 88 couples with a recently abstinent alcoholic husband who were treated in a BMT program at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Brockton, Massachusetts. The non-alcoholic, demographically matched comparison sample provided a realistic, normative baseline against which to compare levels of verbal aggression experienced by alcoholics before and after BMT. Verbal aggression was measured using the Conflict Tactics Scale, while drinking outcomes were assessed using the Time Line Follow-Back Interview. In the 2 years after BMT, both alcoholic men and their wives showed significant and substantial reductions in verbal aggression, compared to the year before BMT. Despite these significant reductions, however, verbal aggression in the 2 years after BMT remained significantly elevated relative to demographically similar non-alcoholic controls. As predicted, relapsed alcoholics and their wives showed more verbal aggression in the 2 years after BMT than both couples with a remitted alcoholic husband and demographically similar non-alcoholic controls, whereas remitted alcoholics and their wives had levels of verbal aggression that were similar to non-alcoholic controls. Further, the frequency of drinking was positively correlated with verbal aggression in the 2 years after BMT, and verbal aggression was greater when the alcoholic husband drank more frequently. Implications of the findings for improving alcoholism treatment programs are discussed. 40 references and 3 tables