The Psychosocial and Familial Dimensions of Work Addiction: Preliminary Perspectives and Hypotheses

Work addiction and its associated problems have been ignored or downplayed in the professional literature. The author reviews anecdotal research and the small number of empirical studies that examine the relationship between work addiction and family-of-origin dysfunction and its impact on family development. The latest empirical research, although tentative at best, was found to corroborate earlier anecdotal reports on nearly all the variables studied. Intervention strategies are presented for counselor implementation.