Codependency in mothers of addicted persons: Cross-cultural differences between Greece and Bulgaria
IntroductionThe people who maintain close relationships with relatives suffering from addiction to psychoactive substances may become more sensitive to develop a physical, mental and emotional state, similar to an emotional addiction.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to give a cross-cultural perspective to codependence and reveal the profile of female relatives of addicted persons in Greece and Bulgaria.MethodThirty-nine Greek mothers of addicted persons from Greece (Mage = 43.97, SDage = 18.34, all high school graduates), a similar group of forty Greek female participants (32 mothers of non-addicted persons, Mage = 40.97, SDage = 17.22, all high school graduates), and thirty Bulgarian women (all mothers of addicted persons, Mage = 53.55, SDage = 5.58, all high school graduates) were examined with the STAI-state questionnaire, the ZUNG Self Rating Depression Scale and the Questionnaire of Establishment of Codependency.ResultsResults indicated that there are statistically significant differences between the Greek and the Bulgarian female relatives of addicted persons on the scores ofZUNG (MGreek = 51.64, SDGreek = 2.07, MBulgarian = 73.63, SDBulgarian = 4.04) and STAI (MGreek = 53.89, SDGreek = 2.68, MBulgarian = 74.16, SDBulgarian = 4.84), but not for the Questionnaire of Establishment of Codependency. Statistically significant differences in all three questionnaires were found for the groups of Greek mothers of dependent and non-dependent persons (P < .005).ConclusionsThis research suggests that although there is more anxiety and depression reported by the Bulgarian mothers of addicted persons, no cross-cultural difference was found for codependence in mothers of addicted persons.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.