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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Ruth McGovernORCiD, Dr Cassey MuirORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The Author(s) 2025. It is estimated that over 100 million people worldwide are affected by the addicted behaviours of a close relative and often experience related adverse health and social outcomes. There are a range of interventions which involve affected family members. Whilst they are largely psychosocial in nature, they differ in their aim and approach. These interventions can largely be categorised as interventions that (1) work with the family to address problems within the family, (2) are focused on the person with addiction problems and include conjoint sessions that may also provide some support to the affected family member or (3) intervene directly with the affected family member only. This chapter discusses a range of different interventions that involve affected family members and provides an overview of the evidence. After considering the main interventions for affected family members, this chapter highlights that most available interventions do not go far enough in responding to the complex and multi-faceted needs of families affected by a relative’s addiction. A number of gaps in the evidence exist including estimation of effect using rigorous evaluative methods, interventions for male affected family members and culturally adapted interventions for affected family members from low- and middle-income countries. Further research is needed to determine the effect of a multi-component psychosocial intervention, which seeks to support both the person with addiction problems and the affected family member.
Author(s): McGovern R, Bischof G, Muir C
Editor(s): Gallus Bischof, Richard Velleman, Jim Orford, Abhijit Nadkarni, Marcela Tiburcio
Publication type: Book Chapter
Publication status: Published
Book Title: Families Affected by Addiction: A Handbook
Year: 2025
Volume: Part F393
Pages: 179-187
Online publication date: 07/05/2025
Acceptance date: 02/04/2018
Series Title: Sustainable Development Goals Series
Publisher: Springer
Place Published: Cham
URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82583-5_17
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-82583-5_17
Library holdings: Search Newcastle University Library for this item
ISBN: 9783031825828
