A study to assess the level of stress, domestic violence and coping strategies among spouse of patients with alcohol dependence admitted at DIMHANS, Dharwad

Background of the study: Alcoholism is one of the major health and social problems all over the world. Alcoholism is a significant problem in India. There is a vast body of literature in India and in the West devoted to understanding the marital dynamics involved in alcoholism and ascertaining the deleterious impact that alcoholism could have on the personality and function of spouse. Aim : Assess the levels of Stress, Domestic violence and coping strategies among the wives of patients with alcoholic dependence.. Methodology: A descriptive survey design is used to assess level of stress, domestic violence and coping strategies among wives of patients with alcohol dependence admitted at DIMHANS, DHARWAD. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was adopted for data collection from 100 wives of alcoholics admitted in wards of the DIMHANS. Results : Data was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics, majority of the participants had moderate level of stress(61%).Assessment of the overall level of domestic violence revealed that 54% wives of alcoholics had average domestic violence. Assessment of the overall level of coping strategies revealed that 63% wives of alcoholics had average coping. There was a partial association between the level of stress, domestic violence and coping strategies of the wives of patients with alcohol dependence with demographic variable only religion (χ2=6.9170, p=02), had significant relationship with level of stress. The result found non-significant negative correlation(r= -0.1810 p= 0.0720) was observed between stress and domestic violence scores and non significant positive correlation(r=0.0793 p=0.4330) was observed between stress and coping strategies scores. But significant and negative correlation (r= -0.2407 p=0.0160*) (*p<0.05) was observed between domestic violence and coping strategies scores. It means that domestic violence and coping strategies scores are dependent on each other. Conclusion: Research needs to focus on the impact of stress, domestic violence and coping on health, a nurse plays a pivotal role both in hospital and community setting in improving the health of the Individual. Innovative approaches in this field have to be initiated in nursing.