A Group Comparison of Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Marriages using the Interpersonal Perception Technique

Abstract

The relationship between a patient's illness and psychiatric disturbance in the spouse is a matter of importance and increasing interest (Penrose, 1944; Slater and Woodside, 1951; Gregory, 1959; Ryle and Hamilton, 1962). Explanations based on environmental conditions (Pond, Ryle and Hamilton, 1963), genetic factors (Coppen, Cowie and Slater, 1965) and assortative mating mechanisms (Kreitman, 1962; Nielsen, 1964) have been found to be inadequate and research has come to focus on the nature of the marital interaction itself (Kreitman, 1964).