Alcoholism leads to complications in marriages

Anyone who likes to drink a lot who is single or divorced may have an answer for the lack of a love life.

In marriage, alcoholics are twice as likely to separate compared to non-alcoholics, according to a study published by Mary Waldron, an assistant professor in the School of Education. The study examined the relationship between alcoholism and marital survival.

“We believe that our study is one of the first to examine marital timing across the lifespan as a function of alcohol dependence,” Waldron said. Researchers looked at alcohol’s physical and psychological effects in users, including the time subjects became dependent, and then tracked the history of their marriage.

Not only is separation twice as likely for spouses who are addicted to alcohol, but alcohol dependence also showed a decrease in the likelihood of getting married by 36 percent in men and 23 percent in women.

“It’s just another striking example of the social consequences of alcoholism, that alcoholism impacts not only the alcoholic,” Waldron said.

One of the authors of “Alcoholic Marriage: Later Start, Sooner End,” Waldron has written about the impact that alcohol abuse has on families and societies. She said she is interested in the effects alcohol has on the children of users.

“When you look at children of alcoholics, you really need to pay attention to marital variables. Not only separation, which we know is highly correlated with alcoholism, but also when their parents are getting married.”

The study has a potential impact on young adults who hope to get married one day, Waldron said. The study showed the percent decrease in likelihood of marrying with those who use alcohol.

Waldron suggested that if alcoholism continues to grow, the number of lasting marriages would decrease dramatically.

After analyzing the effects of the study, Waldron explained that the effects of alcohol can be a great threat to successful relationships.

“Really, the consequences of alcoholism for relationships begin even before the relationship starts,” Waldron said.

The full study is available online and was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute of Childhood Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.