Research Institute on Addictions
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Buffalo, NY 14203-1016
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Buffalo, NY-- Did your drinking habits influence your decision to marry your spouse? Is your life partner now influencing whether you drink or how much? The Journal of Studies on Alcohol recently published results of research conducted at the Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) which examined the relationship between alcohol and marriage.

In "Husband's and Wife's Drinking: Unilateral or Bilateral Influences Among Newlyweds in a General Population Sample," researchers Kenneth E. Leonard, Ph.D. and Rina Das Eiden, Ph.D. explored drinking habits before and after marriage to assess whether drinking is influenced by the new spouse and whether this influence is the same for husbands as it is for wives. "It is often assumed that a husband's drinking influences his wife's drinking," according to Leonard, "but that the wife's drinking has no impact on her husband's drinking, although there are few data to support these assumptions." This study explored drinking patterns over the transition to marriage to assess whether changes in drinking occur in newly-married couples and whether the influence is comparable for husbands and wives.

Leonard and Das Eiden recruited approximately 500 Buffalo area husbands and wives who had just applied for their marriage licenses. The couples were asked to complete questionnaires that assessed alcohol use over the preceding year. At their first year anniversary, they completed a second questionnaire.

"Husbands and wives demonstrated similar drinking patterns at the time of marriage that could not be attributed to social demographics like age, employment, income, race, ethnicity or education, but more to similar characteristics in personality," Leonard explained. "The husbands' drinking before marriage influenced their wives' drinking after marriage, but the reverse was not true. These results suggest that husbands and wives display similar patterns in alcohol use, in part because husbands and wives marry similar individuals and also because common life experiences (graduating, getting new jobs, or having a child) impact the drinking of couples in a similar manner." The similarity also occurs as the reflection of a husband's influence on the wife. Leonard stated, "Although the husband tends to influence his wife's drinking, there appears to be no evidence that the wife's drinking had an impact on the drinking of her husband. This would suggest that heavy-drinking husbands may be a risk factor for women's drinking, but that light-drinking wives are not a protective factor for husbands' drinking."

This sample of couples was in the first year of their first and only marriage, and the husbands and wives were in their mid-20s. The dynamics of husband and wife drinking may be different in other periods, for example when the partners are in their 50s and in their second marriage.

In "Alcohol and the Marriage Effect" Leonard and Julie C. Rothbard, Ph.D., reviewed existing studies for evidence regarding the processes that might account for the "marriage effect," or the finding that married people of all ages tend to drink significantly less alcohol and have fewer alcohol-related problems than single or divorced individuals. The researchers reviewed studies that might explain this effect.

"Existing evidence suggests three processes may contribute to the 'Marriage Effect,'" Leonard explained. "Marriage tends to reduce drinking; continued drinking and drinking problems after marriage are associated with marital instability; and separation or divorce may lead to increased drinking and drinking problems." For example, it is important to view the marriage effect in terms of the differences between married and divorced individuals. Married men and women tend to drink less than divorced men and women. One factor that could contribute to the marriage effect is the systematic loss of heavy drinkers from the pool of married individuals through divorce. The move towards divorce, much like the move into marriage, could reflect the negative influence of heavy drinking on marital quality and stability or it could reflect the influence of other adverse factors associated with heavy drinking. For example, it is well known that alcoholics often evidence other comorbid disorders, such as depression and antisocial personality, which may also negatively impact on marital satisfaction.

Leonard and Rothbard's review concluded that given the nature of these findings, prevention/education efforts directed at individuals entering and leaving marriage have enormous potential. They believe that more research focused on changes over these transitional periods is needed to help develop prevention efforts.

Leonard and Eiden are senior research scientists at the Research Institute. Leonard is also Director of Psychology in Department of Psychiatry, University at Buffalo School of Medicine. Rothbard was the project director on the "Alcohol and Marriage Effect" study.

For more information on this research or other areas related to alcohol and substance abuse prevention, treatment or policy research, contact the Research Institute at 716-887-2566 or visit the website at www.ria.org. RIA is a component of the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services and an affiliated institute of the University at Buffalo.