Need similarity in husbands and wives who are receiving methadone maintenance therapy.

Investigated whether a common dimension of need similarity underlies marriages in which both partners are receiving methadone maintenance therapy. Thirty couples who were receiving methadone maintenance therapy for their heroin addiction were asked to complete the Marital Adjustment Test and Adjective Check List. A canonical correlation analysis was performed between the husbands' and wives' Adjective Check List need scores. One dimension was found that was related positively to the husbands' needs for Dominance, Affiliation, Heterosexuality, Exhibition, and Change, whereas the same dimension was related positively to the wives' needs for Achievement, Dominance, Endurance, and Intraception. It was concluded that Dominance revealed a complementary relationship in which the marriage was meeting the husbands' social needs and the wives' intrapsychic needs.