Outcomes of family-involved alcoholism treatment

This chapter reviews current studies of the effectiveness of family-involved alcoholism treatment. Three theoretical perspectives on family-involved treatment are reviewed: disease model perspectives, behavioral perspectives, and family systems perspectives. Studies evaluating the effectiveness of treatment derived from each viewpoint are described. It is concluded that despite the widespread popularity of family-involved alcoholism treatment, there is a paucity of well-controlled research in this area, that all of the reported research has evaluated marital rather than family therapy, and that there are notable discrepancies between the popularity of clinical practices and the empirical bases of practice.