Creation of a scale for evaluating attitudes of partners toward alcohol dependency

: The aim of this study was to develop a scale to evaluate characteristics of how alcohol-dependent people perceive the attitudes of their partners toward alcohol dependency. Based on previous research, we created the "Attitudes of partners toward alcohol dependency" scale, from the perspective of the alcohol dependent individual. Using the new scale, 71 alcohol-dependent people (52 men, 19 women) were surveyed after obtaining their consent, and the reliability and validity of the scale were tested. The results identified 3 factors, "indifference", "acceptance" and "hypersensitivity", and factorial validity was verified. Relatively high reliability was obtained on each sub-scale (alpha = .60-.82). Furthermore, correlations were obtained with the alcohol-dependency "Denial and Awareness Scale (for alcohol-dependent people)" and with the 13-item "Usefulness of heterosexual love relations for recovery from alcohol dependency" questionnaire, which includes content on "beneficial" or "obstructive" to recovery, and with the satisfaction and the importance of relations. This demonstrates that the "Attitudes of partners toward alcohol dependency" scale has reliability and criterion-related validity. The scale facilitates evaluation of types of attitudes of partners toward alcohol dependency, and may thus be useful as one tool for investigating the influence of partners in heterosexual love relationships for recovery, and for providing advice.