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Marital Satisfaction in Couples with an Alcoholic Husband

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Abstract

Both members of 15 heterosexual couples with an alcoholic husband (AC) and of 15 matched couples with healthy members (HC) filled out first, the Marital Adjustment Test (Locke, Wallace Marriage and Family Living 21:251–255, 1959), second, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (Coopersmith 1967), and finally, a questionnaire on emotional feeling state in which the participant had to evaluate his or her own emotions and the emotions experienced by his or her partner. Results showed that both AC members reported lower marital satisfaction and a lower level of self-esteem than HC members. Furthermore, they were less congruent with their partner regarding the evaluation of their partner’s emotional feeling states (EFS). These deficits could have repercussions on marital happiness, which itself would have repercussions on the alcoholic’s treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of Liege, B33, 3 Boulevard du Rectorat, 4000, Liège, Belgium

    Marie Dethier, Christelle Counerotte & Sylvie Blairy

Authors
  1. Marie Dethier
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  2. Christelle Counerotte
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  3. Sylvie Blairy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marie Dethier.

Appendix

Appendix

Questionnaire on the Emotional Communication Between a Couple

In our daily life, we feel different emotions like joy, sadness, fear, etc. And we also interpret and imagine the emotions felt by our spouse. The present research is on that subject. We are trying to understand the link between the emotions felt by a person and the perception of those by his or her spouse. We have written this questionnaire for that purpose. The questionnaire is made up of general questions regarding the type of emotions that you and your spouse feel, their intensity, their frequency, and the degree of control over them.

All responses will remain anonymous; thus the confidentiality of this questionnaire will be totally respected. The questionnaires won’t be communicated to anyone other than those directly involved in this research.

The object of this research is to have a better understanding of the emotional communication between spouses in order to help more efficiently a couple in difficulty.

You need to answer the questions on a scale of 1–10. Here is an example of how to use the scale:

If, in your opinion, Belgian weather is much nicer than the average weather in other countries, your answer would be as follows:

  • Much less nice than in other countries 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Much nicer than in other countries

If, in your opinion, Belgian weather is equally as nice as the average weather in other countries, your answer will be as follows:

  • Much less nice than in other countries 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Much nicer than in other countries

Please, take care to circle only one answer on the scale for each question and not to miss out on indicating your choice on any of the scales in answering the questions. Incomplete questionnaires can’t be analyzed.

Don’t hesitate to ask any questions to the person that gave you the questionnaire. Thank you in advance for your collaboration.

Intensity

In general,

  • Do you feel your emotions (of joy, of anger, of fear, etc.) in a way much less strongly than others 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 much more strongly than others

  • Do you think your spouse feels his or her emotions in a way much less strongly than others 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 much more strongly than others

Frequency

In general,

  • Do you think about your emotions far less often than others 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 far more often than others

  • Do you think your spouse thinks about his or her emotions far less often than others 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 far more often than others

Control

In general,

  • Do you succeed in controlling your emotions much worse than others 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 much better than others

  • Do you think that your spouse succeeds in controlling his or her emotions much worse than others 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 much better than others

Type of Emotions

  • Do you feel shame?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you think that your spouse feels shame?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you feel joy?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you think that your spouse feels joy?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you feel fear?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you think that your spouse feels fear?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you feel guilt?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you think that your spouse feels guilt?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you feel affection?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you think that your spouse feels affection?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you feel jealousy?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you think that your spouse feels jealousy?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you feel sadness?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you think that your spouse feels sadness?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you feel anguish?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you think that your spouse feels anguish?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you feel anger?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

  • Do you think that your spouse feels anger?

    Never 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frequently

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Dethier, M., Counerotte, C. & Blairy, S. Marital Satisfaction in Couples with an Alcoholic Husband. J Fam Viol 26, 151–162 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-010-9355-z

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