Historically, alcoholism has been defined as an individual problem, and as a result, family factors have received little attention. During the past decade, however, a new theoretical-methodological perspective has been introduced which draws upon general systems theory for rationale, family theory for substance, and behavioral psychology for method. To understand interaction patterns in families with an alocholic member, three groups of families (N=90) were compared. In the experimental group, the husband/father was an alcoholic. In the two control groups, husbands were either social drinkers or depressed with no drinking problems. Laboratory and home observations were made of family interaction and four personality and adjustment measures were administered. In addition the husbands completed the Quantity Frequency Index to determine amount of alcohol consumed during a 1-month period. Preliminary results showed husbands who consumed large amounts of alcohol and were steady rather than binge drinkers were less symptomatic and maintained better marital adjustment than those who drank less. These results suggest the possiblity that family adaptation to drinking patterns may perpetuate drinking. However, further research is needed to assess drinking, psychiatric symptoms, and marital satisfaction on a day-to-day rather than a retrospective basis to determine the actual covariation among these variables. (JAC)