Behavioral marital therapy for male alcoholics: Marital and drinking adjustment during the two years after treatment

Abstract

Follow-up results are presented for a study in which posttreatment results were reported earlier (Behavior Therapy, 1985, 16, 147–167). Married male alcoholics, who had recently begun individual outpatient alcoholism counseling, were randomly assigned to a no-marital-treatment control group or to 10 weekly sessions of either a behavioral marital therapy (BMT) or an interactional couples therapy group. Couples who received BMT in addition to the husbands' alcoholism counseling had better marital outcomes on both more positive wives' marital adjustment and less time separated than couples in which the husband received individual alcoholism counseling only, although the strength and the consistency of marital relationship findings favoring BMT diminished over time after treatment. In terms of drinking outcomes, the advantage for BMT over control noted during treatment was no longer apparent after treatment. Although BMT and interactional couples group did not differ on drinking or marital adjustment, both types of marital therapy had fewer days separated than controls suggesting that the common effects of both types of marital therapy may be to promote relationship stability during the long and arduous period of recovery from alcoholism. Finally, alcoholics with the most severe marital and drinking problems prior to treatment had the worst outcomes in the two years after treatment. Future studies should give more attention to maintaining gains produced by BMT with a special focus on preventing or minimizing relapses and strengthening sobriety, especially among cases with more severe problems.