Excessive Drinking in Marriage Difficult when Only One Partner Abuses Alcohol, Not Both

Excessive drinking can become a serious health problem that may have a significantly negative impact on an individual's life. Yet a recent study looks at how this addictive behavior can mix into a marriage when just one or both spouses are affected.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) followed 634 couples from the time of their weddings through their first nine years together. They found that couples who had one partner with a heavy drinking problem were more likely to divorce than those without or who both had a drinking problem.

"Our results indicate that it is the difference between the couple's drinking habits, rather than the drinking itself, that leads to marital dissatisfaction, separation and divorce," said Kenneth Leonard, PhD, RIA director and lead author of the study, via a press release.

Study Co-author Gregory Homish, Ph.D., and Phillip Smith, Ph.D. of the University's Department of Community Health and Health Behavior found, in fact, that nearly 50 percent of all couples where only one partner drank more heavily wound up divorcing, with the divorce rates for other couples being roughly 30 percent.

"This research provides solid evidence to bolster the commonplace notion that heavy drinking by one partner can lead to divorce," Leonard said. "Although some people might think that's a likely outcome, there was surprisingly little data to back up that claim until now."

Researchers hope that this evidence could potentially provide new information on treatment methods for couples in crisis as well as substance abuse.

"This research provides solid evidence to bolster the commonplace notion that heavy drinking by one partner can lead to divorce," Leonard said. "Although some people might think that's a likely outcome, there was surprisingly little data to back up that claim until now."

More information regarding the study can be found here.