Establishing a Hazardous Drinking-Behavior Model for Family Members of Hazardous-Drinker Patients

Project: National Science and Technology CouncilNational Science and Technology Council Academic Grants

Project Details

Abstract

Excessive alcohol use has been associated with a large variety of health, social, and legal problems. Since problems with alcohol consumption accumulate gradually, hazardous or harmful drinkers should be detected early to establish timely and appropriate interventions. Alcohol, which is legally accessible in Taiwan, plays an important role in Chinese culture as it is viewed as an acceptable drink to relieve stress and enhance socialization. As a result, drinking problems are easily ignored. Individuals with a family history of alcoholism are at greater risk of developing alcoholism than those without such a history. Moreover, close family members of patients with alcohol problems may suffer stress-related physical and psychological symptoms that can be severe and long lasting, placing a significant burden on healthcare resources. This background highlights the importance of screening and intervening for problem drinking in family members of patients identified as problem drinkers. Current studies on alcohol drinking-related problems mainly focus on patients and few studies have focused on their family members either in western countries or in Taiwan. No model is available for the hazardous-drinking behaviors among family members of problem-drinker patients. Based on a review of the relevant literature and the research team members’ experiences, we consider that the drinking behavior of family members of problem-drinker patients is related to their perceived stress (in general and specifically related to problem-drinker patients), coping mechanisms (in general and specifically related to problem-drinker patients), social support (professional and informal), health condition (physical and psychological symptoms, quality of life) and their beliefs about hazardous drinking (protective factors against hazardous drinking and facilitative factors for hazardous drinking). Since most of these factors cannot currently be measured due to lack of structured questionnaires, we plan to gather qualitative data to develop questionnaires, and then to establish and examine a model for drinking behaviors among family members of problem-drinker patients. This proposed 3-year study will include three stages. In Stage I, we will explore the lived experience, perceived stress, and coping mechanisms among family members of hazardous-drinker patients, their protective factors against hazardous drinking, and their facilitative factors for hazardous drinking. In Stage II, we will develop and validate four questionnaires for perceived stress, coping mechanisms, protective factors against hazardous drinking, and facilitative factors for hazardous drinking among family members of hazardous-drinker patients. In Stage III, we will establish and examine a hazardous drinking-behavior model for family members of hazardous-drinker patients. The study results will provide a comprehensive model to understand the drinking behaviors of family members of hazardous-drinker patients. Such a model will facilitate the development and clinical examination of intervention programs for reducing or preventing hazardous-drinking behaviors among family members of hazardous-drinker patients.

Project IDs

Project ID:PC10308-1221
External Project ID:MOST103-2314-B182-014-MY3
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date01/08/1431/07/15

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