Bartek, et. al. (1999), further state that alcoholism has an effect on every member of the family resulting in a chaotic, disorganized, and dysfunctional family unit. .
Alcoholism has been contributed to the alteration in the development of intimate familial relationships and depression among family members. Physical illnesses such as irritable bowel syndrome, hypertension, asthma/emphysema, inadequate sleep patterns, and frequent insomnia have also been identified among members of an alcoholic family (Bartek, Lindeman, & Hawks, 1999).
Assessment of the Alcoholic Family.
As a result of growth and change within a family unit, it may be difficult to assess an alcoholic family. Different members of the family may possess various manifestations of the disease and show differentiations in the related shifts of family functioning (Ellis, Zucker, & Fitzgerald, 1997). Friedman, Bowden, & Jones (2003), discuss the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation as a theoretical framework when families experience stressful life situations. The Resiliency model assumes four fundamental components of the family unit. Familial hardships, familial ability of the family unit to foster growth and development, and protect members from harm during stressful times of transition or change, familial ability foster adaptation following a family crisis, and the ability of the family unit to benefit and contribute to community resources during periods of stress and crises.
A contributing characteristic of alcoholism is denial (Bartek, Lindeman, & Hawks, 1999). As a result, assessment of the family may not be obvious by means of a self-assessment tool. The evaluator is has a better opportunity to complete a thorough assessment of the family unit by using an unbiased instrument such as the Family Inventory of Life Events and Changes Scale (FILE). The FILE, according to Friedman, Bowden, and Jones (2003), is an instrument that can be used in association with the Resiliency model to assess the accumulation of stressors within the family that contribute to the alcoholic dysfunction.
