Investigation of addic's relatives' awareness towards domestic violence within the scope of co-addiction factors

Individuals with substance abuse cause serious psychological, economic and social problems within their families. In addition to these problems, family members often remain silent when they experience violence and avoid using formal complaint mechanisms. This silence leads to an increase in violence and family conflicts and deterioration in the general well-being of family members. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between domestic violence awareness and co-dependency levels of families of substance abusers. The study was conducted on the families of individuals who applied to YEDAM for alcohol and substance use disorders. Relational screening model and quantitative research method were used to understand the relationship between domestic violence awareness and co-dependency factors. Participants were administered a socio-demographic questionnaire consisting of 19 questions, the Domestic Violence Awareness Scale and the Co-dependency Factor in Addiction Scale. The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 26 software. A total of 172 relatives of individuals with substance addiction participated in the study. 72.7% of the participants were female and 27.3% were male, with an average age of 41.63 years. When the educational status was examined, it was seen that the majority of the participants were high school and secondary school graduates, and the rate of postgraduate graduation was quite low. The employment status of the participants shows a balanced distribution. It was determined that most of the participants received support from YEDAM for their spouses and children and that they loved their substance addicted relatives. This study is important in terms of understanding the relationship between awareness of domestic violence and codependency. According to the results of the study, it was determined that awareness of domestic violence is a factor that predicts the level of co-dependency factor in addiction. This finding reveals that individuals who are more aware of domestic violence may show lower levels of co-dependency towards their spouses' addiction. The findings obtained may contribute to the development of support programs for family members of individuals with substance addiction.