Marital Satisfaction 1 Running head: MARITAL SATISFACTION IN COUPLES WITH AN ALCOHOLIC HUSBAND Marital Satisfaction in Couples with an Alcoholic Husband

Both members of 15 heterosexual couples with an alcoholic husband (AC) and of 15 matched couples with healthy members (HC) filled out first, the Marital Adjustment Test (Locke & Wallace, 1959), second, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (Coopersmith, 1967), and finally, a questionnaire on emotional feeling state in which the participant had to evaluate his or her own emotions and the emotions experienced by his or her partner. Results showed that both AC members reported lower marital satisfaction and a lower level of self-esteem than HC members. Furthermore, they were less congruent with their partner regarding the evaluation of their partner’s emotional feeling states (EFS). These deficits could have repercussions on marital happiness, which itself would have repercussions on the alcoholic’s treatment.