The drinking partnership and marital satisfaction: The longitudinal influence of discrepant drinking.

Abstract

The objective was to determine whether discrepancies between husbands' and wives' past year heavy drinking predicted decreased marital satisfaction over time. Participants were recruited at the time they applied for their marriage licenses (N= 634). Couples completed questionnaires about their alcohol use and marital satisfaction at the time of marriage, and again at their first and second anniversaries. Generalized estimating equation models were used to evaluate the association between discrepancies in husbands' and wives' heavy drinking in the year prior to marriage and marital satisfaction at the first wedding anniversary and the association between discrepancies in heavy alcohol use in the first year of marriage and marital satisfaction at the second wedding anniversary. In these prospective time-lagged analyses, discrepancies in husbands' and wives' heavy drinking predicted decreased marital satisfaction over time while controlling for heavy drinking. Over time, these couples may be at greater risk for decreased marital functioning that may lead to relationship dissolution. Keywords marital satisfaction; discrepancies; alcohol useMarital relationships are often comprised of individuals who share similar backgrounds, values, beliefs, and behaviors. Houts, Robins, and Huston (1996) examined similarity among newly married couples and found that individuals were more closely matched with respect to preferences for leisure activities and for division of household responsibilities than would be expected by chance. In a cross-national study of partner similarity, Price and Vandenberg (1980) found spousal similarity with respect to social variables such as food choices and leisure activities, but also with respect to personality related variables, such as trust, compulsiveness, and social conformity. Spousal similarity has also been demonstrated with respect to psychological disorders, including affective disorder (Galbaud du Fort, Bland, Newman, & Correspondence to: Gregory G. Homish. Publisher's Disclaimer: The following manuscript is the final accepted manuscript. It has not been subjected to the final copyediting, fact-checking, and proofreading required for formal publication. It is not the definitive, publisher-authenticated version. The American Psychological Association and its Council of Editors disclaim any responsibility or liabilities for errors or omissions of this manuscript version, any version derived from this manuscript by NIH, or other third parties. The published version is available at http://www.apa.org/journals/ccp/ NIH Public Access Boothroyd, 1998) and antisocial personality (Krueger, Moffitt, Caspi, Bleske, & Silva, 1998).Although it is not entirely clear whether this similarity is a result of an assortative mating process, a socialization or causation process, or some combination of both, compatibility theories argue that spouses who are quite dissimilar are at risk for marital problems (Kurdek, 1991). This conceptual approach suggests that "….large differences between partners o...

Young Adult Drinking Partnerships: Alcohol-Related Consequences and Relationship Problems Six Years Later

“…However, there were no differences across clusters in relationship quality, which is surprising because previous research found that discrepancy was related to more relationship problems, such as lower satisfaction and commitment (e.g., Homish and Leonard, 2007). Perhaps the Add Health measure was inadequate to fully address satisfaction and commitment.…”

“…First, the current study explored data from both couple members using a nationally representative sample rather than community samples (Homish and Leonard, 2007) or using only one couple member (Wiersma et al, 2009). The Add Health followed the same individuals from young adulthood into adulthood, which allowed the current study to examine the association of individuals' drinking in earlier types of romantic relationships with their adult behaviors.…”

Spouses of Older Adults With Late-Life Drinking Problems: Health, Family, and Social Functioning

“…However, with these exceptions, they did not experience more health problems or defi cits in family and social functioning. Thus, these spouses may have formed a somewhat uneasy "drinking partnership" (Homish and Leonard, 2007) with their mates and engaged in moderate to heavy alcohol consumption as a normative social activity. Consistent with this idea, at the 10-year follow-up, this group of spouses continued to drink more heavily and to report more friends' approval of drinking than spouses of problem-free drinkers did.…”

“…Aside from married couples' concordance in these areas of functioning, there is very little information about the health, family, and social adaptation of spouses of late-life problem drinkers. Studies of younger couples have shown that a partner's heavy drinking and alcohol-use problems may be associated with high levels of marital confl ict and a relative lack of spousal support (Homish and Leonard, 2007;Keller et al, 2009;McLeod, 1993).…”

Early Adolescent Substance Use as a Risk Factor for Developing Conduct Disorder and Depression Symptoms

“…However, it is still unclear when and for whom effects will be negative versus positive. Drinking effects are more negative when couple members drink relatively heavier compared with lighter amounts (Fisher et al, 2005;Levitt and Cooper, 2010) and when partners drink dissimilar compared with similar amounts (Homish and Leonard, 2007;Levitt and Cooper, 2010;Mudar et al, 2001). Beyond effects of quantity consumed, the drinking context appears to be especially important for relationship functioning.…”