The Effects of Alcohol Consumption on Marriage
You booze, you lose...your spouse? According to a recent study, that's not the case. A new study from the University of Buffalo examined the drinking habits of married couples and found that the more dissimilar partners' sipping strategies, the more likely they were to divorce. Spouses with different drinking habits – one a teetotaler while one is a heavy drinker – had a higher divorce rate than spouses who drank in virtually the same fashion, and that included heavy drinkers. Researchers followed newlyweds for nine years and found that couples with similar drinking habits were 30 percent likely to divorce. Half of participants who had different drinking habits than their spouses divorced in that time. Study author Kenneth Leonard, Ph.D., concluded that couples with different drinking habits may be less likely to socialize together and in the same ways.