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

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Objective: This study examines the association between young adult drinking partnerships (ages 18-26 years) and later alcohol-related problems and consequences, alcohol use, relationship quality, and relationship dissolution in adult relationships (ages 26-35). Method: Data came from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health; Waves III and IV) with 1,347 young adults and their partners at Wave III, including dating, cohabiting, and married couples, and individual adult behaviors at Wave IV, 6 years later. Drinking partnerships were based on alcohol use frequency, quantity, heavy episodic drinking, and getting drunk. Results: Four clusters included (a) congruent light and infrequent, (b) discrepant male heavy and frequent, (c) discrepant female heavy and frequent, and (d) congruent heavy and frequent drinkers. Young adult discrepant partnerships reported more alcohol-related problems and consequences 6 years later. Young adults in the congruent heavy drinking partnership indicated more separation/ divorce and alcohol use as adults. Young adult married men who drank discrepantly and higher compared to their wives reported higher rates of adult drinking and problems than other men. There were a number of negative effects from congruent heavy drinking, especially for women. Conclusions: These fi ndings demonstrated that there are multiple types of young adult drinking partnerships based on couples' alcohol use behaviors. Men may be at risk for serious alcohol-related problems later in adulthood, especially when paired with discrepant drinking partners and congruent heavy drinking partners. Women are at risk when in congruent, heavy and frequent drinking partnerships. Studying romantic relationships and drinking has implications for broad aspects of young adult and adult development. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 75, 704-712, 2014)

An interdependent look at perceptions of spousal drinking problems and marital outcomes

“…Moreover, although the probability of getting married is the same as the general population, the probability of separation and divorce among couples where one person has an AUD is about four times higher (McCrady, 2012). Several studies have also identified discordance of drinking between partners as detrimental and a risk factor for separation and divorce (Homish & Leonard, 2007; Leonard, Smith, & Homish, 2014; Ostermann, Sloan, & Taylor, 2005; Torvik, Røysamb, Gustavson, Idstad, & Tambs, 2013; Wiersma & Fischer, 2014). …”

College Student Dating Partner Drinking Profiles: Differences in Relationship Functioning and Relationship-Specific Alcohol Expectancies

“…Further, these earlier studies have found four (Wiersma et al, 2010; Wiersma & Fischer, 2014) or five (Roberts & Leonard, 1998; Wiersma et al, 2009) drinking classes. In contrast to earlier research, which has shown more dissimilarity in partner alcohol use/risk, we found more similarity in alcohol risk.…”

“…A second explanation may be that a socialization effect may occur in which dating partners in particular may drink similarly to their partner (e.g., Wiersma et al, 2011). This may reflect that drinking similarly makes dating couples feel more compatible (Wiersma & Fischer, 2014) and secure (Fischer & Wiersma, 2012). Relatedly, once partners have stronger levels of commitment in their partnership, they may feel less of a need to conform to their partners’ drinking (Fischer & Wiersma, 2012).…”

“…Couples in which both partners were heavy drinkers and had stronger positive beliefs about the effects of alcohol were more likely to report male-to-female perpetration of sexual aggression. Furthermore, Wiersma and Fischer (2014) found that young adult dating couples who drank heavily consumed more alcohol and were more likely to experience separation/divorce at ages 26 – 35. Thus, these results suggest that heavy drinking dating couples are at greater risk for relationship harms, such as relationship dissatisfaction and IPV, presently and prospectively.…”

“…Consequently, the present study aimed to identify patterns of drinking-related risk as reported by women for themselves and for their dating partner using a person-centered statistical approach (i.e., latent profile analysis [LPA]). Similar clustering techniques have been used in previous studies to identify drinking partnerships, but these have either been based on married couples (Roberts & Leonard, 1998), have primarily considered one’s level of quantity and frequency of drinking in deriving groups (Wiersma, Cleveland, Herrera, & Fischer, 2010; Wiersma & Fischer, 2014; Wiersma, Fischer, & Fitzpatrick, 2009), and have used arguably less statistically advanced approaches to determine groups (i.e., cluster analysis). Given support for using problematic levels of alcohol use as drinking partnership indicators (Moos et al, 2010; Testa et al, 2012), we used empirically supported (Dawson, 2000; Dawson et al, 2005) drinking guidelines to identify couples based on their similarity in high-risk drinking behavior.…”