The Ambiguous Loss of Alcohol Use Disorders for Affected Family Members: Factors that Affect Resilience Versus Distress

Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD) destroy the health of many afflicted people as well as their affected family members (AFMs). The purpose of this research was to explore relevant variables for AFMs based on ambiguous loss theory and relational frame theory. In this study, 310 AFMs completed online surveys through MTurk. Differences in AFMs’ Al-Anon involvement (i.e., no involvement, newcomer, member) were investigated relative to psychological flexibility, psychological inflexibility, boundary ambiguity, distress, and ambiguous loss resilience (i.e., ambiguity tolerance). Results indicated Al-Anon involvement was not a significant variable in relation to AFMs’ distress or ambiguity tolerance outcomes. Psychological flexibility, psychological inflexibility, and boundary ambiguity explained 61.2% of the total variance in AFMs’ distress outcomes (R² = .612, F(3, 304) = 162.114, p < .000). Psychological flexibility, psychological inflexibility, and boundary ambiguity explained 24.1% of the total variance in AFMs’ ambiguity tolerance outcomes (R² = .241, F(3, 303) = 33.467, p < .000). Evidence indicated psychological inflexibility was the most important predictor variable relative to AFMs’ distress and ambiguity tolerance outcomes.