THE SIGNIFICANT-OTHER BEHAVIOR QUESTIONNAIRE (SBQ) - AN INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING THE BEHAVIOR OF SIGNIFICANT OTHERS TOWARDS A PERSONS DRINKING AND ABSTINENCE

The psychometric properties of the Significant-other Behavior Question naire (SBQ), an instrument measuring the specific social support in te rms of the patient's drinking. Assessments of the significant other's behavior in the presence of the patient drinking is provided by both t he patient and significant other. Data from the two SBQ forms were ana lyzed with a principal axis factor analytic procedure with varimax rot ation. The scales were similar for the two forms with four behavioral reactions, withdraw from the patient, support drinking, support sobrie ty, and punish drinking. Correlations between the two forms on the sam e four scales were higher than correlations within groups on three of four scales and differed from measures of general social support. Appl ications of the SBQ are discussed.