ABSTRACT
Families of patients with dual disorders experience the disruptions due to addictive disorders in addition to the stressors of coping with a serious mental illness. Although many studies (Hatfield, 1987-a; Lefley, 1987; Marsh, 1992) have shown that families of mentally ill relatives report enormous amounts of stress due to mental illness, there are few studies that have assessed the added burden due to substance abuse problems. One study (Kashner et.al., 1991) reported that substance abuse contributes to family conflict, erodes social support, and generates high levels of expressed emotion, thus disturbing the vitally needed caregiving network. Therefore, it is important to provide services for families.
