Abstract:
Examines 40 wives of first admission alcoholics admitted to an alcoholic clinic and a mental hospital and classifies them into two groups on the basis of their husband s pattern of drinking, 17 falling into gamma and 23 into delta categories. Subjects were tested on Cattell's 16PF, Fould's Hostility Questionnaire and Gough and Heilbrun's Adjective Check List. In addition, information as regards family background, drinking history and pattern of drinking was obtained in interviews. No significant grouping correspondent with the gamma/delta classification was found with any of the psychological tests or case history data, other than that wives of gamma alcoholics tend to marry men who at the outset of marriage already had a drinking problem. Multidimensional scaling techniques showed there to be some grouping operative within the total sample, corresponding with socio-economic class. Subjects falling into the lower socio-economic classes appeared to be more hostile, anxious and neurotic than those in the higher classes. Although some heterogeneity thus appeared operative amongst wives of alcoholics, this did not correspond with their husband's pattern of drinking.
