The Relationship between Sex of the Alcoholic and Patterns of Interaction in the Home

Abstract

The paper explores the relationship between sex of the identified alcoholic and patterns of interaction in the home. Twenty-three families with a male alcoholic member were compared to eight families with a female alcoholic member along a series of factors representing basic dimensions of interactional behavior. These dependent measures were derived via direct observation of families in their homes, using the Home Observation Assessment Method (HOAM). Previous analyses of this same HOAM database had demonstrated statistically significant associations between HOAM factor scores and the current drinking status of the alcoholic family member. In contrast to reports in the literature which have made claims to having demonstrated global differences between the behavior of male and female alcoholics, our data indicated that overall patterns of family home behavior were remarkably similar when sex of the alcoholic member was the only variable used to distinguish comparison groups. Thus no direct impact of sex of the alcoholic family member on family behavior could be demonstrated in this naturalistic observation study.