INTERPERSONAL FACTORS AND POSTTREATMENT DRINKING AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING

Aims. A conceptual clarification of the domain of social relationships defines three aspects of social relationships (structure, function an d quality), which have both alcohol-specific and general components. W e analyse the correlations among post-treatment indicators of social r elationships and the associations between these interpersonal variable s and post-treatment drinking and subjective wellbeing. Design. This i s a secondary analysis of data from an alcohol treatment outcome study , in which subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatment c onditions and followed for 18 months. Setting. The outpatient treatmen t program is located within a private psychiatric hospital tit the nor th-eastern United States. Participants. We analyzed the 140 subjects w ho completed a social network instrument 12 months following treatment assignment. Intervention. This secondary analysis combined clients fr om three treatment conditions, all of which were based upon social lea rning theory. Measurements. Interview and questionnaire self-report da ta were collected by trained interviewers. Findings. Indicators of soc ial relationships are found to be relatively independent of one anothe r. Only alcohol-specific social relationship indicators are significan tly associated with drinking outcomes, and only general indicators are significantly associated with subjective wellbeing. Functional indica tors, addressing social interaction content, have stronger effects on outcomes than structural or quality indicators. General and alcohol-sp ecific support from friends have more influence than support from fami ly; both surpass the influence of co-workers. Conclusions. A better un derstanding of the roles of social relationships during the course of treatment and recovery or relapse may help clarify how treatment perso nnel cart utilize clients' interpersonal relationships more effectivel y to maximize treatment effectiveness.