Idiographic Family Assessment Method for Substance Users

Abstract

ABSTRACT With the aim of identifying the family systemic factors associated with substance use, the Idiographic Family Assessment Method for Substance Users was designed. The Method was applied in an outpatient counseling center for drug users in a city in central Mexico. Fifteen families were included in the study, totaling 34 participants. From a poststructuralist stance, a bridge was created between clinical practice and science, through an idiographic inquiry. The Method can be utilized with other populations. The research methodology was predominantly qualitative, phenomenological, and interpretative, with grounded theory for content analysis of in‐depth interviews, and complementary quantitative techniques, including a self‐report instrument. Findings subsumed: Structure, Dynamic, and trigenerational Family History aspects for each case. All dimensions were interrelated, and differences in perception between the user and his family member(s) were identified in most cases. Risk and protective factors were distinguished, and some hypotheses were formulated. Protective factors were rooted in Mexican traditional family values.