Alcoholism is frequently called a family disease; encouraging and even insisting that family members participate in the treatment of alcoholics has become routine practice in almost every treatment setting. This study examined the relationship between treatment participation by a family member and two measures of recovery for three birth cohorts of women (N=99) in non-residential treatment for alchoholism. Recovery variables included a self-report measure on psychosocial aspects of their recovery by the women themselves and a therapist rating scale based on individual treatment goals. Results showed approximately 40 percent of the women had a family member who had participated with them in at least one treatment session. There were differences among the cohorts in the types of relatives participating in treatment. Parents were the predominant family members participating in the treatment of the youngest cohort, while spouses and grown children were in the majority for the oldest cohort, and the middle cohort had all three in roughly equal proportions. Data showed that participation in treatment by a family member was positively related to both recovery measures (therapist's rating and self-report of psychosocial recovery) for the oldest cohort of women, aged 46-66, but not for the two younger cohorts, aged 31-45 and 19-30. This positive relationship was found regardless of length of time in treatment, type of treatment program, or level of severity of alcoholism at the beginning of treatment. (Author/ABL)