COUPLE COMMUNICATION PATTERNS OF MARITALLY AGGRESSIVE AND NONAGGRESSIVE MALE ALCOHOLICS

Objective: This study was conducted to examine the associations betwee n communication problems and marital violence in couples with a male a lcoholic, and to determine whether the communication correlates of mar ital violence found in nonalcoholic community samples also characteriz e male alcoholics' relationships. Method: Ninety newly abstinent treat ment-seeking male alcoholics and their wives completed a 10-minute pro blem discussion while both partners were sober. Their communication be haviors were coded with the Marital Interaction Coding system. Couples were separated into maritally aggressive (n=60 couples) and nonaggres sive (n=30 couples) groups on the basis of any husband-to-wife physica l aggression in the previous 12 months. Results: The base-rate percent age of aversive-defensive communication was significantly higher for c ouples with a physically aggressive husband than for couples with a no naggressive husband. The base-rate percentage of facilitative-enhancin g communication did not differ significantly between groups. In sequen tial analyses, physically aggressive husbands, but not their wives, di splayed more negative reciprocity than their nonaggressive counterpart s. Alcoholic husbands in general displayed lower rates of facilitative -enhancing communication than did their wives. Conclusions: Husband-to -wife marital aggression was associated with problematic communication among couples with an alcoholic husband during a sober interaction in a laboratory setting, extending prior nonalcoholic community sample r esearch to male alcoholics' relationships. The maritally aggressive al coholics were high in negative responses contingent upon their wives' prior negative behavior, and were unlikely to terminate aversive inter changes. Communication problems may be important in understanding and treating co-occurring alcoholism and marital violence.