Background: Alcohol can have adverse effects not only on the individual’s physical and mental health but also social wellbeing. Many studies on problems in people consuming alcohol have been done, but only few studies have been done with regard to the impact on spouses. Objectives: To study the socio-demographic factors and psychological impact of spouse of patients with alcohol dependence syndrome and to study the psychological impact on spouse of alcoholic dependence patients with severity of alcohol use. Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Psychiatry in a tertiary care centre in Puducherry of 18 months’ duration. 202 female spouses of alcohol dependent husbands were assessed using the tools HAM-D, HAM- A, PSS and AUDIT scale. All analysis was done using SPSS Software version 16, Chi-square and Pearson’s correlation coefficient test. Results: Majority of the study participants were 99(49%) were 35-44 years of age. 26(36.1%) subjects whose husbands scored high on audit and 46(47.4%) subjects whose husbands scored very high on Audit had severe to very severe depression. 26(78.8%) subjects whose husbands reported moderate scores on Audit had mild anxiety, while 43(44.3%) subjects reported very high scores on Audit had moderate to severe anxiety. 54 (55.7%) subjects whose husbands had very high Audit scores reported moderate levels of perceived stress. Conclusion: Significant association was found between spouse of alcoholics with features like depression, anxiety, and stress and the severity of alcohol use in the husband. Hence, the treatment should address the psychologicalproblems in spouse while treating the alcohol dependence in their husband to get a better outcome.

Keywords: Alcohol dependence; Psychological impact; Problem in spouse.