Spouse Enabling Inventory (SEI)

Abstract

The Spouse Enabling Inventory (SEI) is a specialized psychometrics instrument designed to quantify the frequency of specific behaviors exhibited by a spouse that facilitate or protect an individual’s ongoing pattern of alcohol misuse or dependence. Developed by Thomas, Yoshioka, and Ager in 1993, the SEI consists of 47 items rated on a 5-point frequency scale, focusing on actions taken by the spouse over the preceding six months. The scale is crucial for research and clinical intervention aimed at understanding the systemic maintenance of Substance Abuse within marital relationships, particularly focusing on the concept of enabling behavior.

Keywords

Spouse Enabling Inventory, SEI, Alcohol Abuse, alcoholism, enabling behavior, marital relationship, substance use disorders, family therapy, psychometric scale.

Authors

Thomas, E. J., Yoshioka, M. R., Ager, R. D.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Spouse Enabling Inventory (SEI) is to provide a reliable and comprehensive measure of the frequency and nature of enabling behaviors performed by the spouse of a person who misuses alcohol. This inventory helps researchers and clinicians assess how the non-drinking partner’s actions may inadvertently support, facilitate, or protect the drinker from the natural consequences of their alcohol consumption.

By quantifying these behaviors across different domains—such as direct facilitation (e.g., purchasing alcohol) and consequences minimization (e.g., covering up mistakes)—the SEI allows for targeted therapeutic interventions designed to modify the spouse’s behavior, thereby disrupting the pattern that sustains the Alcohol Abuse cycle.

Construct

The SEI measures the construct of “spouse enabling,” defined as behaviors intended to protect the drinker, minimize the negative consequences of drinking, or actively facilitate the drinking behavior. This construct is generally divided into two main categories, often referred to as Type 1 and Type 2 behaviors, which reflect distinct dimensions of enabling.

Type 1 Enabling (Facilitation): These items (17 total) focus on behaviors that directly encourage or facilitate drinking. Examples include participating in drinking, purchasing alcohol, or speaking positively about alcohol consumption. Type 2 Enabling (Consequence Minimization): The remaining 30 items focus on protective behaviors designed to shield the drinker from the negative social, legal, occupational, or physical consequences of their alcohol use (e.g., making excuses, cleaning up messes, or paying fines). Understanding these two sub-constructs is vital for developing effective treatment plans for families affected by Substance Abuse.

Validity

The SEI was developed using rigorous psychometric procedures to ensure its validity in measuring the complex construct of spouse enabling. Studies, such as those published by Thomas, Yoshioka, and Ager (1996), have established the instrument’s face and content validity, ensuring that the items comprehensively cover the domain of enabling behaviors observed in clinical practice and research literature.

Further research has supported the scale’s construct validity, demonstrating that SEI scores correlate logically with other measures of marital distress and addiction severity. The differentiation between the two types of enabling behaviors (facilitation vs. minimization) provides empirical evidence for the multi-dimensional nature of the enabling construct.

Reliability

Research on the Spouse Enabling Inventory has consistently demonstrated strong internal consistency, confirming its Reliability. High Cronbach’s alpha coefficients have been reported for the overall scale, indicating that the items reliably measure the same underlying construct. Furthermore, the two proposed subscales (Type 1 and Type 2) also typically exhibit acceptable to good levels of internal Reliability, suggesting that they are internally coherent and useful for separate analysis in clinical studies.

Factor Analysis

The factor structure of the SEI supports the conceptual division of enabling behaviors. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses performed during the scale’s development identified two primary factors corresponding to the Type 1 and Type 2 item groupings.

The factor analysis provides robust evidence for the differentiation between behaviors that actively support drinking (Type 1 items: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 44, 46, and 47) and those that mitigate the negative outcomes of drinking (Type 2 items: the remaining items). This bifactorial structure enhances the clinical utility of the SEI by allowing practitioners to identify which specific dimension of enabling is most prominent in a given marital relationship.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report frequency inventory.

Format: 47 items assessed using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Always, 2 = Frequently, 3 = Occasionally, 4 = Rarely, 5 = Never). Scoring is based on the frequency of behaviors in the last six months.

Language Available: English (Primary).

Population Group: Spouses or intimate partners of individuals with alcohol use disorders.

Age Group: Adults (spouses/partners).

Population Details: Non-drinking or less severely affected partners in a relationship where one partner exhibits significant alcohol misuse.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate how often they have engaged in each listed behavior as it relates to the drinker in the last six months.

Keywords

Enabling, co-dependence, family systems, marital dynamics, substance abuse assessment, screening tool, psychological inventory, Thomas Yoshioka Ager.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not publicly provided in source documentation.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected] (R. D. Ager, as per source).

Correspondence Address: Not publicly provided in source documentation.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Spouse Enabling Inventory was initially developed and published in 1993, with subsequent detailed psychometric analysis published in 1996. Given its inclusion in major compendiums of clinical measures, the SEI is widely used in academic and clinical research. Researchers should typically contact the primary authors for permission to use the scale, although it is often made available for academic purposes at no cost.

The instrument can be found within the Healthy Marriages Compendium, Part 2. The original PDF can be downloaded here: Healthy Marriages Compendium‚ Part 2.

Reference’s

• Thomas, E. J., Yoshioka, M. R., & Ager, R. D. (1996). Spouse enabling of alcohol abuse: Conception, assessment and modification. Journal of Substance Abuse. 8, 61-80.

• Corcoran, K., & Fischer, J. (2000). Measures for clinical practice: A sourcebook (Vol.1). New York, NY: The Free Press.

• Thomas, E. J., Yoshioka, M. R., & Ager, R. D. (2001). The Spouse Enabling Inventory (SEI). In J. Touliatos, B. F. Perlmutter, & G. W. Holden (Eds.), Handbook of family measurement techniques. Volumes 2 & 3 (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Items of the Spouse Enabling Inventory (SEI)

As it involves the drinker in the last six months, how often have you:

1. Told amusing stories about others who drank a lot
2. Spoken admiringly of the ability of others to hold their drink
3. Had the drinker’s car repaired after an alcohol-related accident
4. Paid fines for drunk driving offenses
5. Bailed the drinker out of jail because of a drink-related offense
6. Returned beer bottles and/or collected and washed glasses used for drinking by the drinker
7. Suggested that the drinker attend activities where alcohol was to be served
8. Invited friends over to drink
9. Gone to bars with the drinker
10. Bought alcohol and kept it in the home
11. Served alcohol with meals or snacks
12. Helped the drinker find his/her things lost while drunk
13. Provided the drinker with clean clothes after he/she soiled them due to use of alcohol
14. Gone to drinking parties with the drinker
15. Arranged parties where alcohol was served and which were attended by the drinker
16. Made hangover remedies
17. Cleaned up alcohol-related messes (e.g., spilled drinks, vomit, urine)
18. Tended to the drinker’s alcohol-related injuries
19. Put the drinker to bed when he/she has been drinking
20. Avoided social contact with friend to cover up the drinking
21. Avoided relationships with neighbors and others who might drop in, to cover up the drinking
22. Avoided social contact with the extended family to cover up the drinking
23. Encouraged children to be silent about the drinking
24. Called the drinker’s place of employment to say he/she was sick when he/she could not or would not go to work because of the drinking
25. Taken responsibility for awakening the drinker the morning after a night of drinking so that he/she would not be late for work
26. Canceled appointments and social engagements for the drinker because of his/her drinking
27. Made excuses for the drinker’s behavior when he/she was drunk or had been drinking
28. Taken responsibility for keeping his/her drinks cold (e.g., beer, wine, mixers)
29. Spoken admiringly of the drinker’s ability to hold his/her drink
30. Bought devices especially for the drinker such as shot glasses, bottle openers, drinking glasses
31. Said the drinker behaved better when drinking (e.g., easier to get along with)
32. Offered drinks to the drinker
33. Given him/her something to eat when he/she got drunk to reduce the effects of the drinking
34. Explained, justified, or made excuses to others for the drinker’s drinking
35. Explained, justified, or made excuses to others for the drinker’s drinking
36. Reassured the drinker that his/her inappropriate and/or embarrassing behavior when under the influence of alcohol was not all that bad
37. Comforted the drinker about his/her feelings of guilt about drinking
38. Said to the drinker or others that the amount of alcohol drunk was less than actually was drunk
39. Softened or covered up the obvious signs of alcohol abuse (e.g., blackouts, tremors, puffy face, bloodshot eyes, hangovers)
40. Minimized the seriousness of the drinking (e.g., ignored it, said it was not a problem, said the drinker could control it when he/she could not)
41. Minimized the consequences of drinking
42. Concealed his/her drinking from others
43. Cut down on household expenses (e.g., groceries) to provide drinking money for the drinker
44. Given the drinker money for drinking
45. Consumed alcoholic beverages with the drinker
46. Told the drinker it was OK with you that he/she drank
47. Suggested the drinker that he/she have a drink

Scoring Key: 1 = Always, 2 = Frequently, 3 = Occasionally, 4 = Rarely, 5 = Never.

Subscales: Type 1 (Facilitation/Support of Drinking) includes items 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 44, 46, and 47. The remaining items constitute Type 2 (Minimization/Protection from Consequences).