STRESS AND COPING STRATEGIES AMONG THE WIVES OF ALCOHOLICS ATTENDING SELECTED DE - ADDICTION CENTRES

Stress is a part of everyday life and no one is spared from it. People experience stress in different ways and for different reasons. From the newborn to the person who breaths his/her last, suffers from different types of stress. Wives of alcoholics go through countless problems in their personal and family life. They are at high risk for low quality of life due to use of maladaptive coping strategies. This study will help to evaluate the level of stress that faced by them and use of coping skills. Thus this will be a guide for planning and teaching effective coping methods to the targeted population. Aim: To assess the stress and coping among the wives of alcoholics. Methods: A quantitative research approach was used for the present study. The sample consisted of 50 wives of alcoholics, selected using purposive sampling technique. The tools used for the study were modified perceived stress scale and coping with drinking questionnaire. Results: The outcome of the study revealed that 98% of the wives of alcoholics had moderate level of stress and 2% of the wives of alcoholics had mild level of stress. It was also found that 96% of them had moderate level of coping and 4% had high level of coping.