Coping in male partners of female problem drinkers

Abstract

Introduction and aims: Despite a wealth of literature looking at how families cope when a member has a drinking problem, little is known about the experiences of male partners. This study sought to redress this balance by exploring coping behaviours in male partners of female problem drinkers.

Participants: Male partners (n = 29) were recruited through female problem drinkers who were in contact with one of three specialist alcohol services.

Design: Male partners completed a self‐report questionnaire. This included the Coping Questionnaire (Orford, ), which has been found to contain three factors of coping behaviour: engaged, tolerant‐inactive and withdrawal.

Results: Contrary to what was expected, male partners reported using engaged coping behaviours most frequently and withdrawal coping behaviours least frequently. Significant positive correlations were found between the males' coping behaviours, and both the length of the problem drinking and the extent to which they saw their partners' drinking as problematic.

Conclusions: The results gave little support to the idea that males withdraw from females with drinking problems, and the males reported to be engaged in both an active and controlling way in trying to cope with their partner's drinking. The results reinforce the need to include a female's significant others in the treatment of her alcohol problem.

• Alcohol
• family
• coping