Husbands' SUD is associated with higher levels of co-occurring but not non-co-occurring psychiatric disorders among their wives

Abstract

Objective Substance use among husbands has been shown to be associated with higher rates of substance use and of psychiatric symptoms among their wives. However, substance use disorders (SUD) and psychiatric disorders (as opposed to substance use or psychiatric symptoms) are rarely rigorously assessed among large samples of couples, so it is unclear whether SUD among husbands are associated with SUD among their wives, and whether the wives also display a higher prevalence of co-occurring or non-co-occurring psychiatric disorders. We compared the level of SUD, of co-occurring (with SUD) psychiatric disorders, and of non-co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses among the wives of males with SUDs vs among the wives of males without SUDs. We hypothesized that the presence of SUDs among males would be associated with a higher level of SUDs, of co-occurring psychiatric disorders, and of non-co-occurring psychiatric disorders in their wives. Method The subjects in this study were the spouses of adult men with a lifetime history of an SUD (SUD+ husbands, N = 342) vs those with no lifetime history of an SUD (SUD− husbands, N = 350). These subjects were recruited for participation in a longitudinal project designed to elucidate the etiology of substance use disorders. Results Co-occurring SUDs were five times more common among the spouses of SUD+ husbands than among the spouses of SUD− husbands (10.2% vs 2.0%, chi-square = 19.7, p = 0.000). SUD/depressive disorder and SUD/anxiety disorder were both seven times more common among the spouses of SUD+ husbands than among the spouses of SUD− husbands (19.4% vs 4.7%, chi-square = 45.8, p = 0.000; 14.3% vs 2.0%, chi-square = 34.5, p = 0.000). In contrast, non-co-occurring depressive disorders and non-co-occurring anxiety disorders were not more common among the wives of the SUD+ husbands than among the SUD− husbands. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that SUD and co-occurring psychiatric disorders (with SUD) are more common among the spouses of SUD+ husbands than among the spouses of SUD− husbands, but non-co-occurring (“pure”) psychiatric disorders are not more common among the spouses of the SUD+ husbands.