The proposed study will examine the efficacy of family involvement in the treatment program of their alcoholic relatives. Specifically, measures of treatment success will be compared for two groups of alcoholic inpatients at Bronx Veterans Medical Center, a group of alcoholic inpatients with family members involved in the treatment program and a group of alcoholic inpatients with no family members involved in the treatment program.
Both inpatient alcoholic groups will have no history of organic brain disorder or major affective disorder; further, they will be matched on age, gender, educational level, ethnicity, marital status, and the number of years they have had a serious drinking problem (all alcoholics will have had a drinking problem for no less than and no more than two years).
Measures of treatment success will consist of:
(1) alcoholics' depression levels; (2) alcoholics' anxiety levels; (3) alcoholics' attitudes toward alcohol; (4) alcoholics' attitudes toward future sobriety; (5) number of alcoholics who remain in the program until termination; and (6) number of days sober during the 60 days following termination of the program.
The research will be conducted using a two-group, pretest-posttest design. The experimental group will consist of alcoholic inpatients who have family members involved in the treatment program provided to them at Bronx Veterans Medical Center. The control group will consist of alcohol inpatients who do not have family members involved in the treatment program provided to them at Bronx Veterans Medical Center.
All subjects will be pretested for level of anxiety, level of depression, attitudes toward alcohol and attitudes toward their future sobriety. Posttests of these same measures will be collected immediately following termination of the treatment program and then again sixty days following the termination of the treatment program.
A graphic depiction of the research desi...