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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Family Roles in Homes With Alcohol-Dependent Parents: An Evidence-Based Review

Pages 535-542 | Published online: 24 Aug 2010
 

Abstract

The behavioral health care field has seen attempts to understand the functioning of families in which a parent is dependent on alcohol as a set of roles into which the other family members fall. The most popular of these classifications taught in the United States includes five roles (enabler, hero, lost child, mascot, and scapegoat) that are used to conceptualize families and individuals in treatment and support group settings, as well as in popular self-help literature. Attempts to operationalize and measure these roles have, however, been fraught with difficulties. The resulting research base has seen conflicting evidence for the support of such roles, as well as little work on diverse families. The evidence against such well-defined family roles, the questions surrounding their development, and the difficulties of applying such constructs in real-life situations (with numerous confounding factors and unknown associated conditions) may indicate that their clinical utility does not win out over the problems inherent with this manner of classification.

RÉSUMÉ

Le domaine de la santé comportementale a vu des tentatives de comprendre le fonctionnement des familles dont un parent est dépendant de l'alcool comme un ensemble de rôles dans lequel la famille d'autres membres de l'automne. Le plus populaire de ces classifications enseignées dans les États-Unis comprend cinq rôles (catalyseur, le héros, enfant perdu, la mascotte, et bouc émissaire) qui sont utilisés pour conceptualiser les familles et les individus dans le traitement et les paramètres de groupe de soutien, ainsi que dans les populaires auto-assistance littérature. Les tentatives visant à opérationnaliser et de mesurer ces rôles ont cependant été semé d'embûches. La base de recherche qui en résulte a vu des preuves contradictoires pour le soutien de ces rôles, ainsi que peu de travail sur les diverses familles. Les preuves contre ces rôles familiaux bien définis, les questions entourant leur développement, et les difficultés d'application de telles constructions dans des situations réelles (avec confond nombreux et inconnus conditions associées) peuvent indiquer que leur utilité clinique n'a pas l'emporter sur les problèmes inhérents à ce mode de classification.

RESUMEN

El campo de la salud de comportamiento ha sido testigo de intentos de comprender el funcionamiento de las familias en las que un padre es dependiente del alcohol como un conjunto de roles en los que la familia que no entran los miembros. El más popular de estas clasificaciones se enseña en los Estados Unidos incluye cinco funciones (facilitador, héroe, niño perdido, la mascota, y el chivo expiatorio) que se utilizan para conceptualizar las familias y los individuos en el tratamiento y la configuración de grupos de apoyo, así como en la popular de auto-ayuda- la literatura. Los intentos de hacer efectivos y medir estas funciones tienen, sin embargo, ha sido plagada de dificultades. La base de la investigación resultante ha visto la evidencia sobre el apoyo de esos papeles, así como poco trabajo en las familias diversas. La evidencia en contra de tales roles familiares bien definidos, en aspectos relativos a su desarrollo, y las dificultades de la aplicación de tales construcciones en las situaciones de la vida real (con confunde numerosos y desconocidos condiciones asociadas) podría indicar que su utilidad clínica no gana a lo largo de los problemas inherentes a este tipo de clasificación.

THE AUTHORS

Peter M. Vernig, M.A., is a doctoral candidate and adjunct instructor at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. His research involves acceptance-based behavioral interventions for etiological models of substance use disorders, as well as the implementation of evidence-based practices in behavioral health care and the roles of anxiety and social skills in relationship formation.

Notes

1 An additional questionnaire (the Family Relations Inventory) was created by Martin, McDermott, and Tollefson (Citation1992), who used it to test incarcerated versus nonincarcerated self-help group participants. They observed no differences between groups or sexes, and no subsequent uses of the questionnaire were found.

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