Marital Adjustment and Quality of Life in Couples with and without an Alcoholic Husband (A Comparative Study)

Though there are several studies based on thealcoholic per se or his spouse, there is hardly anyliterature based un dual partner comparison of bothspouses in alcohol complicated and non-alcoholinvolved marital relationships particularly in theIndian context. This study seeks to compare a groupof marital partners having an alcoholic husbandwith a reference group of couples without analcoholic spouse. Instruments to assess the maritaladjustment and quality of life of both spouses inthe two groups were administered. Data analysisreveals a highly significant statistical differencebetween both the couple groups on the two subjectdimensions studied. The wives of alcoholics scoredthe lowest when the four groups of marital partnerswere compared. The findings suggest the need fortherapeutic intervention with both spouses in analcohol complicated marital relationship to enablethem overcome their marital life deficits and toenhance their quality of life