Forgiveness and Cohesion in Familial Perceptions of Alcohol Misuse

Alcohol is the most commonly misused substance in the United States (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2002). It has been estimated that approximately 10% of Americans have serious drinking problems (Beck, Wright, Newman, & Liese, 1993), and the number of individuals engaging in risky drinking behaviors continues to rise (Mitka, 2009). Chronic alcohol use can have many negative physiological, social, familial, vocational, and legal consequences. As a result, counselors frequently see clients either who have substance misuse problems or whose substance misuse exacerbates other psychological symptoms. It is important for counselors to understand the aspects of clients’ lives that can affect substance misuse (Harford, Grant, Yi, & Chen, 2005). Many researchers and counselors prefer the term misuse, which describes a broad pattern of behavior, rather than the terms abuse or dependence, which refer to diagnoses offered by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). For the purpose of the current studies, alcohol misuse is defined as the use of alcohol to the point of disruption of at least one major area of daily functioning (Edwards & Unnithan, 1994). For example, if an individual uses alcohol to the point at which it causes legal problems (e.g., disorderly conduct, driving under the influence), social or family problems (e.g., frequent arguments over drinking), physiological problems (e.g., health problems related to alcohol use), and/or school or work problems (e.g., missing deadlines or calling in sick due to alcohol use), he or she could be said to misuse alcohol. Several factors may contribute to an individual’s decision to misuse alcohol. These are environmental stressors, depression, anxiety, and poor self-efficacy (Beck et al., 1993; Martens et al., 2008). Moreover, family environment and