Abstract
Given that romantic partners are often the first to identify their partners’ alcohol-related problems, we sought to ascertain the perceptual processes that contribute to partner perceptions of an individual’s alcohol-related problems and whether these processes systematically differ across gender. We assessed couples’ (N = 168) perceptions of their own and their partners’ alcohol-related problems. A dyadic multilevel model guided by the truth, and a bias model of judgement was conducted with gender as a moderator. Perceivers were accurate in their estimations of their partners’ alcohol-related problems. However, men significantly underestimated their partners’ alcohol-related problems. Perceivers showed greater accuracy in their perceptions of their partners’ alcohol-related problems when they themselves reported more alcohol-related problems compared to when they reported fewer alcohol-related problems. Partners’ biased perceptions may limit the identification of at-risk individuals. Future research should investigate the individual and couple-based consequences of accurate and biased perceptions of alcohol-related problems.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was funded by a [masked for review] grant awarded to the last author. The first author is supported through a [masked for review], the second author through a [masked for review], the fifth author through a [masked for review] at the time of data collection, and the last author through a [masked for review]. The authors thank [masked for review] for their research assistance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health
