Coping Strategies and Perceived Social Support in Wives of Persons with Alcohol Dependence Syndrome

Background:  In India alcohol is the most commonly used substance of abuse. The effect of alcoholism in husbands mostly leads to disturbances in marital life.These effects may directly or indirectly drain out caregivers of substance abusers. One of the most affected among caregivers are the marital partners. In other words it is the wives of substance abusing husband who are the victims. Coping mechanisms are used by the wives to handle the stressful situation has a vital role in reducing psychological difficulties. In case of wives with alcohol dependent husbands, the social support is a buffer for crisis periods. Aim of the study: The study is aimed to enquire the coping strategies and perceived social support of the wives of persons with alcohol dependence syndrome. Material and methods: A total 30 wives of persons with alcohol dependence syndrome according to ICD-10 were taken as the sample using purposive sample collection. Socio-demographic profile was assessed through semi-structured questionnaire while coping strategies was assessed through Ways of Coping Scale (1986) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (1988) was applied to assess the perceived social support after taking their informed consent. Data analysis was done using SPSS for descriptive statistics. Results: The result shows that varied types of coping strategies were used by wives of persons with alcohol dependence. In contrast the previous studies suggest use of emotional focused or escape avoidance coping. This study suggests that adaptive copings such as positive reappraisal, seeking social support and problem solving were used in comparison to escape avoidance.  In contrast to previous studies perceived social support was found to be high in this study group. Conclusion: It is well known fact now that coping strategies plays a major role in dealing with stressful life situations and perceived social support also have positive impact over health. Finding from this study suggests that any psychosocial intervention designed for this group must consider these facts and findings. Eventually these findings from the study can be used to help in enhancing the wellbeing of wives of alcohol dependents. Key words: Alcohol Dependence, coping strategies, perceived social suppor

Deep phenotyping and genomic data from a nationally representative study on dementia in India

The Harmonized Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia for the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI-DAD) is a nationally representative in-depth study of cognitive aging and dementia. We present a publicly available dataset of harmonized cognitive measures of 4,096 adults 60 years of age and older in India, collected across 18 states and union territories. Blood samples were obtained to carry out whole blood and serum-based assays. Results are included in a venous blood specimen datafile that can be linked to the Harmonized LASI-DAD dataset. A global screening array of 960 LASI-DAD respondents is also publicly available for download, in addition to neuroimaging data on 137 LASI-DAD participants. Altogether, these datasets provide comprehensive information on older adults in India that allow researchers to further understand risk factors associated with cognitive impairment and dementia.Peer reviewe

Marital quality in wives of persons with alcohol dependence syndrome

Background: Marriage is a strong bond between couples with the promise of lifelong dedication and emotional wellbeing. The effects of alcoholism in husbands may lead to disturbances in marital life. Lack of understanding, unpredictable behaviour of the husbands, and their irresponsibility in family matters can often lead to poor quality of a couple’s relationship. Aim of the study: The study is aimed to understand the marital quality of the wives of persons with alcohol dependence syndrome. Material and methods: Thirty wives of persons with alcohol dependence syndrome according to ICD-10 were taken as the sample, using purposive sample collection. Socio-demographic profile was assessed through semi-structured questionnaire while Marital Quality Scale (MQS-1995) was applied to assess the marital quality after taking their informed consent. Higher scores indicate poorer quality of marital life. Data analysis was done using SPSS for descriptive statistics. Results: The domain mean scores of rejection, understanding, and decision-making, and the total score of marital quality were high. Thus, indicating poorer quality of marital life among the wives of persons with alcohol dependence. Conclusion: Alcohol dependence is highly associated with poor marital quality as the person with alcohol dependence tends to adapt faulty communication patterns and behaviour which in turn leads to poor adjustment, unhappiness, and a high degree of dissatisfaction with relationships. Treatment plan for this group should be planned keeping these factors in consideration, as a priority