Problem drinking and marital adjustment

To examine the interdependency between alcohol misuse and marital adjustment, emphasis was placed on investigating how different patterns of alcohol use vary with different levels of marital satisfaction, and how such relationships might be mediated by the sociobehavioral consequences of problem drinking within the family. It was found that the likelihood of marital disruption was greater in heavy drinking households than in nonheavy drinking households. However, differences between heavy drinking and nonheavy drinking settings with respect to the marital relationship became largely nonsignificant when the number of sociobehavioral consequences of alcohol use for the marriage was controlled. The relationship between patterns of alcohol misuse and marital adjustment seems to be complex and variable and is in need of further investigation. Findings in the present study are compared with other research on the alcoholic marriage. Recommendations are offered for future studies on this topic.     

The transition to marriage and changes in alcohol involvement among black couples and white couples

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess whether the reduction in alcohol involvement typically associated with the transition to marriage differs for blacks, compared with whites. METHOD: Couples (n = 248, white; n = 100, black) in which both partners were entering into their first marriage were assessed at the time of marriage, their first anniversary and their second anniversary. At each wave, husbands and wives were each given an identical questionnaire packet to complete independently at home and a postage-paid envelope for packet return. A broad range of constructs was assessed, including personality characteristics, relationship functioning, drinking behaviors and social network characteristics. Alcohol involvement measures included average daily volume of consumption, frequency of heavy drinking, alcohol-related problems and alcohol dependence. RESULTS: Whites decreased their frequency of heavy drinking and alcohol dependence over the early marital years, whereas blacks remained relatively stable. Alcohol problem trajectories were similar for wives of both races. White men reported a decline in alcohol problems, whereas black men reported an increase in problems over the first 2 years of marriage. Racial differences in the alcohol involvement trajectories could not be attributable to racial differences in family formation or demographic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest limited generalizability of previous research, indicating a reduction in alcohol involvement associated with the transition to marriage. Individuals who continue to drink heavily after this transition may be at an especially high risk for the subsequent development of serious alcohol and marital problems.     

Alcohol use and partner expectations among newly married couples

The objective of this work was to determine if a spouse's expectations about a married person's drinking patterns affected his/her partner's alcohol use and alcohol use-related problems. Alcohol use and problems were assessed in a U.S. urban sample of 634 couples at the time they applied for their marriage license (1996-1999) and at their first and second anniversaries. Husbands' expectations about married women's alcohol use, as well as wives' expectations about married men's alcohol use, were assessed at each wave using a three-item scale. Linear regression models were used to identify the longitudinal association between a person's expectations of married individuals' drinking patterns and his/her spouse's alcohol use the following year. Evidence was found to support the relation between one spouse's expectations and his/her partner's alcohol use. However, wives' expectations appeared more influential compared to husbands and this influence is not present at the start of marriage, but rather develops slightly later. The study's limitations are noted.     

Alcohol use, alcohol problems, and depressive symptomatology among newly married couples

BACKGROUND: Individuals married to heavy drinking spouses often have poorer health compared to those whose spouses are not heavy drinkers. This work examined how one spouse's alcohol involvement and alcohol-related problems affect his/her spouse's depressive symptomatology over time. METHODS: Couples (N=634) were assessed for past year alcohol involvement and alcohol-related problems (marital and non-marital) and depressive symptomatology when they applied for a marriage license. They were reassessed at their first and second anniversaries. Multilevel models were used to analyze the association between one spouse's alcohol involvement and alcohol problems and his/her partner's depressive symptomatology over time. RESULTS: Both husbands' and wives' marital alcohol problems were associated with wives' depressive symptoms. Neither spouses' alcohol consumption was associated with wives' depressive symptoms. Husbands' marriage-related alcohol problems and frequency of heavy drinking were related to husbands' depressive symptoms; however, wives' alcohol problems and alcohol use were unrelated to husbands' depression. CONCLUSIONS: In a community sample of married couples, we found that husbands' and wives' marital alcohol problems affect wives' depressive symptoms, but only husbands' marital alcohol problems affect husbands' depressive symptoms. Future work should consider other subgroups of alcohol-related problems in one spouse and their relation to depression in his/her partner.     

Alcohol Use and Partner Expectations Among Newly Married Couples

The objective of this work was to determine if a spouse's expectations about a married person's drinking patterns affected his/her partner's alcohol use and alcohol use–related problems. Alcohol use and problems were assessed in a U.S. urban sample of 634 couples at the time they applied for their marriage license (1996–1999) and at their first and second anniversaries. Husbands' expectations about married women's alcohol use, as well as wives' expectations about married men's alcohol use, were assessed at each wave using a three-item scale. Linear regression models were used to identify the longitudinal association between a person's expectations of married individuals' drinking patterns and his/her spouse's alcohol use the following year. Evidence was found to support the relation between one spouse's expectations and his/her partner's alcohol use. However, wives' expectations appeared more influential compared to husbands and this influence is not present at the start of marriage, but rather develops slightly later. The study's limitations are noted.     

Sources of distress among women in treatment with their alcoholic partners

We examined sources of psychological and relationship distress among 90 nonalcoholic women with alcoholic male partners seeking outpatient, conjoint alcohol treatment. Results indicated that greater psychological distress among these women was most strongly associated with lower satisfaction with the marital relationship, presence of domestic violence, lower frequency of male partner's drinking, lower perceived social support from family, and more frequent attempts to cope with the partner's drinking. Controlling for psychological distress, greater marital satisfaction was associated most strongly with greater attempts to reinforce positively the partner's abstinence and with less effort to detach from the partner's drinking. Severity of partner's alcohol problems was unexpectedly associated with greater marital satisfaction in multiple regression analyses, though not in bivariate analyses. Results highlight the close connection between psychological and relationship distress and potential relations between alcohol-related coping behaviors and both psychological and relationship distress.     

Associations between marital status and alcohol consumption in a longitudinal study of female twins.

OBJECTIVE: Prior studies have documented an association between marriage and lower alcohol consumption. Data from a longitudinal study of female twins were used to address whether longitudinal drinking trajectories are more closely related to current marital status or to patterns of marital status over time. METHOD: Past-year alcohol consumption frequency and quantity were obtained on one to three occasions, over 8 years, from 1,986 women aged 17-61. Latent growth models were applied to study whether trajectories of alcohol consumption are altered at first marriage and differ for women with different patterns of marital status changes. RESULTS: There was substantial heterogeneity in consumption trajectories, but marital status was associated with a large proportion of the decline in consumption prior to age 30. Significant group differences in consumption trajectory were associated with marital status patterns; women who later divorced drank more than women who stayed married, and divorced women who remarried drank less than divorced women who did not remarry. Among identical twins, consumption patterns were associated with co-twin divorce, suggesting the marital "effect" may be partially due to family-level factors that influence drinking. CONCLUSIONS: The results are consistent with a decrease in drinking accompanying the transition from being single to first marriage, but the influences of divorce on drinking appear to exist prior to divorce, are not directly associated with current status and may be mediated by familial processes. These results suggest that the influences of marriage on alcohol consumption are complex and cannot be limited to the simple view that marriage causes decreased drinking.     

Marital quality and congruent drinking

OBJECTIVE: This research considered whether changes in marital quality over the early years of marriage were related to patterns of alcohol use among three groups of couples: congruent nondrinkers, congruent drinkers who usually drank with their spouses and congruent drinkers who usually drank apart from their spouses. METHOD: Newlywed couples (N = 418) were assessed for marital satisfaction and drinking behaviors and then were reassessed at their first and second anniversaries. Cross-sectional analyses compared couples at each assessment and multilevel modeling assessed changes in marital satisfaction over time. RESULTS: At each assessment, husbands and wives who usually drank with their partners reported greater levels of marital satisfaction. Over time, marital satisfaction declined for both husbands and wives. When we assessed changes in marital quality based on the three groups, husbands in each group experienced similar declines in marital quality. Among wives, however, the rate of decline was not the same. Although wives in the nondrinking group and wives who usually drank with their husbands had similar initial marital satisfaction, the nondrinkers experienced a greater decline in marital satisfaction than the wives who drank with their husbands. The rate of change for the wives in the nondrinking group was quite similar to wives who more often drank apart from their spouses. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that alcohol use may be a part of the couple's socializing and may increase interaction, thereby increasing marital satisfaction.     

Drinking motives as mediators of the impulsivity-substance use relation: pathways for negative urgency, lack of premeditation, and sensation seeking

Trait impulsivity is a reliable, robust predictor of risky, problematic alcohol use. Mounting evidence supports a multidimensional model of impulsivity, whereby several distinct traits serve as personality pathways to rash action. Different impulsivity-related traits may predispose individuals to drink for different reasons (e.g., to enhance pleasure, to cope with distress) and these different motives may, in turn, influence drinking behavior. Previous findings support such a mediational model for two well-studied traits: sensation seeking and lack of premeditation. This study addresses other impulsivity-related traits, including negative urgency. College students (N=432) completed questionnaires assessing personality, drinking motives, and multiple indicators of problematic drinking. Negative urgency, sensation seeking, and lack of premeditation were all significantly related to problematic drinking. When drinking motives were included in the model, direct effects for sensation seeking and lack of premeditation remained significant, and indirect effects of sensation seeking and lack of premeditation on problematic drinking were observed through enhancement motives. A distinct pathway was observed for negative urgency. Negative urgency bore a significant total effect on problematic drinking through both coping and enhancement motives. This study highlights unique motivational pathways through which different impulsive traits may operate, suggesting that interventions aimed at preventing or reducing problematic drinking should be tailored to individuals' personalities. For instance, individuals high in negative urgency may benefit from learning healthier strategies for coping with distress.     

Comparison of the predictors of alcohol use and misuse among Han and aboriginal students in Taiwan

The objective of this study was to compare the predictors of alcohol usage between the Han and aboriginal students in Taiwan. Results showed a significant gender difference for alcohol use and problematic drinking in both Han and aboriginal adolescents, with males having a higher prevalence of these problems than females in both groups. Aboriginal adolescents did not show gender differences in alcohol-related negative consequences. Male, paternal drinking, single-parent household, peer drinking, and peer relationships are the significant predictors for the Hans adolescents' problematic drinking. Gender, paternal drinking, and peer drinking are the significant predictors for aboriginal adolescents' problematic drinking. If the father drinks frequently, odds ratio is 6.48 likely for aboriginal adolescents to have problematic drinking. If peers drink frequently, odds ratio is 6.26 likely for aboriginal adolescents to have alcohol-related negative consequences. Frequent peer drinking was associated with a 6.26 odds ratio of have alcohol-related negative consequences.     

Parental alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, and alcohol-specific attitudes, alcohol-specific communication, and adolescent excessive alcohol use and alcohol-related problems: An indirect path model

Alcohol-specific parent-child communication has often been studied in relation to regular alcohol use of adolescents. However, it might be as important to focus on adolescent problematic alcohol use. In addition, the way parents communicate with their children about alcohol might depend on their own (problematic) drinking behaviors. Therefore, the current study examined the direct effects of parental alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, and parental alcohol-specific attitudes on adolescent excessive drinking and alcohol-related problems later in life. It also looked at indirect effects via alcohol-specific communication. The sample consisted of 428 Dutch families including fathers, mothers and adolescents from two age groups (13 and 15 years old) at T1, who have been surveyed annually for 5 years. We tested the model with structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that parental alcohol-related problems were positively associated with communication about alcohol, which in turn was related with less excessive adolescent drinking and alcohol-related problems. Lenient parental attitudes about alcohol and parental alcohol-related problems were directly related to more excessive drinking and alcohol-related problems in adolescents. In conclusion, alcohol-specific communication intervenes in the relationship between parental alcohol-related problems and adolescent excessive drinking and alcohol-related problems. This indicates that in family alcohol interventions targeted at youth alcohol use, parental alcohol-related problems should be taken into account.     

Drinking and marital aggression in newlyweds: an event-based analysis of drinking and the occurrence of husband marital aggression.

OBJECTIVE: Research suggests that domestically violent men are more likely to be heavy drinkers than nonviolent men. However, very little data has addressed the relationship between the occurrence of a domestic violence episode and the co-occurrence of husband or wife alcohol consumption. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between husband and wife drinking and whether the most serious conflict involved verbal aggression, moderate physical aggression or severe physical aggression. METHOD: Newlywed couples (n = 366) who were assessed with respect to risk factors for marital violence at the time of marriage were interviewed at the end of their first year of marriage. These in-person interviews focused on characteristics (location, presence of other people, husband drinking, wife drinking) of the most severe verbal conflict, and the first and the most severe episode of physical aggression. RESULTS: After controlling for individual difference risk factors including husband and wife drinking patterns, husband drinking was more likely in episodes of physical vs episodes of verbal aggression. This finding was consistent in both husband and wife, and consistent in both between-groups and within-groups analyses. Wife drinking was largely unrelated to occurrence or severity of violence. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the contention that alcohol use may contribute to the occurrence and/or severity of domestic violence, particularly in the early stages of marriage.     

Marriage and alcohol use: a longitudinal study of "maturing out"

Earlier findings have suggested that marriage may provide protection from a variety of physical and psychological problems. In particular, numerous studies have demonstrated a consistent relationship between marital status and alcohol use. To examine this relationship more carefully, we performed a longitudinal analysis of data collected on the Youth Cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience. Four marital transition groups were constructed based upon marital status across a 3-year period: stably single, married year 3, married year 2 and stably married. Results of repeated-measures MANCOVAS performed on alcohol-use patterns across time as a function of marital-transition group supported the notion that individuals begin moderating their alcohol consumption prior to their actual transition to married status with the trend continuing into the first year of marriage. The data further suggested that this decline in alcohol use stabilizes shortly thereafter, apparently within 1 year after marriage.     

Neuroticism and Negative Urgency in Problematic Alcohol Use: A Pilot Study

Background: Problematic alcohol use is common among university students and personality might account for individual differences in developing this maladaptive behavior. Two personality dispositions implicated in problematic alcohol use are negative urgency and neuroticism. However, the relationship of these traits to problematic alcohol use is unclear. In college students high neuroticism is not directly linked to problematic alcohol use. On the other hand, the experience of emotional distress in people high in neuroticism could impair the capacity for impulse control. Loss of impulse control under conditions of negative affect could trigger impulsive drinking and problematic alcohol use in the long run. Objectives: We investigated this idea by testing whether negative urgency mediates the relationship of neuroticism to problematic alcohol use. Methods: Participants were 60 undergraduate university students who completed the Urgency subscale of the Urgency, (lack of) Premeditation, (lack of) Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, and Positive Urgency Impulsive Behaviour scale (UPPS-P), the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and the Neuroticism subscale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised short form (EPQ-RSS). Results: The results confirmed our hypothesis as we found an indirect effect of negative urgency on the relationship between neuroticism and problematic alcohol use. Conclusions/Importance: It appears that it is not distress but the tendency to act rashly when distressed that is important in developing problematic alcohol drinking in university students.     

Personality and alcohol use: the role of impulsivity

Research has shown that personality traits associated with impulsivity influence alcohol use during emerging adulthood, yet relatively few studies have examined how distinct facets of impulsivity are associated with alcohol use and abuse. We examine the influence of impulsivity traits on four patterns of alcohol use including frequency of alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, binge drinking, and alcohol use disorders (AUDs) in a community sample of young individuals (N = 190). In multivariate regression analyses that controlled for peer and parental alcohol use, psychological distress, and developmental correlates (i.e., college, marriage, employment) in emerging adulthood, we found that urgency and sensation seeking were consistently related to all four constructs of alcohol use. The present study suggests that distinct impulsivity traits may play different roles in escalation of alcohol use and development of AUDs during emerging adulthood.     

Key personality traits and alcohol use disorder symptoms in first and second year college students: detangling antecedent from consequence

BackgroundStudies have consistently shown that low constraint and high negative emotionality are associated with higher levels of alcohol use and greater alcohol related problems. Less research has examined associations between these traits and alcohol use disorder (AUD) from the first to second year of college, when alcohol use increases rapidly, or has evaluated gender differences in these associations.MethodsThe longitudinal College Experiences Study (N = 209, 60% female, 90% white) was used to detangle antecedent vs. consequence between constraint, negative emotionality, and AUD symptoms using multiple methods (cross-lagged panel analysis, latent difference score approach).ResultsProviding evidence for a scar/complication model, greater AUD symptoms in the first year of college was predictive of rank-order and correlated decreases in constraint in the second year, but only for males. Surprisingly, negative emotionality was not associated with AUD symptoms for either gender. Qualitative analyses show that the vast majority of those that met an AUD diagnosis (90%+) did not consider their drinking to be problematic.ConclusionGiven the vast majority of college students with AUD do not perceive their drinking to be problematic, results support the potential of using personality-based risk prevention/intervention programs to target at-risk individuals for problematic drinking, rather than targeting problematic drinking alone.     

Evaluating anxiety sensitivity, exposure to aversive life conditions, and problematic drinking in Russia: a test using an epidemiological sample

The present study evaluated the main and interactive effects of anxiety sensitivity (AS) and exposure to aversive conditions in terms of their association with alcohol consumption and problems in an epidemiologically defined sample from Russia (N=345). Results revealed a positive association between stress exposure and problematic drinking. The findings also indicated that individuals with low anxiety sensitivity evidence more problematic drinking if they were exposed to more aversive conditions. In contrast, individuals with high anxiety sensitivity reported less problematic drinking if they were exposed to more aversive conditions. Although these findings are only partially consistent with original prediction, they suggest a novel, potentially important interplay between the processes that contribute to alcohol use problems among individuals susceptible to anxiety psychopathology.     

Role of impulsivity in the relationship between depression and alcohol problems among emerging adult college drinkers

Depression is common among college students and higher levels of depression are associated with greater alcohol-related problems. However, depression is frequently not found to be directly associated with more alcohol use. This study examined whether various aspects of impulsivity (negative urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, sensation seeking, and delay discounting) and drinking to cope with negative affect help to account for the relationship between depression and alcohol problems among emerging adult college drinkers who reported at least a minimal level of depressive symptoms. In this cross-sectional study, 143 emerging adult (between 18 and 25 years old) female (69.9%, n = 100) and male (30.1%, n = 43) college drinkers with at least minimal depressive symptoms completed measures of depression, alcohol use and problems, drinking to cope, and impulsivity. A multiple mediation analysis revealed that only negative urgency and drinking to cope partially mediated the depression-alcohol problems relationship. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that impulsivity-related constructs did not significantly interact with drinking to cope to increase alcohol problems. It appears that alcohol use is particularly problematic for students with elevated depression, and this is partly attributable to depression's association with negative urgency, in addition to its association with drinking to cope. Our findings suggest that students who suffer from depression may engage in problematic drinking behavior in part because negative affect is detrimental to their short-term impulse control and decision making, independent of maladaptive attempts to regulate affect through drinking to cope.     

Where you live matters: The roles of living arrangement and self-esteem on college students’ hazardous drinking behaviors

This study examined the influence of living arrangements and self-esteem on problematic alcohol use among 139 university students. Our findings replicate the well-established inverse association between self-esteem and problematic alcohol use. However, analyses disaggregated by living arrangement revealed that this association was inconsistent such that the inverse association between self-esteem and both binge drinking and alcohol-related problems was observed among participants living with parents, but not among students living on campus or off campus without parents. The moderating effect of living arrangement highlights the importance of considering living arrangements when examining risk factors for hazardous drinking among college students, as the pathways to problematic alcohol use may differ according to living situations.     

Generalized expectancies for negative mood regulation and problem drinking among college students

OBJECTIVE: Motivational models of alcohol use often invoke constructs derived from social-learning theory, including coping styles, drinking motives and affective distress. To date, no study has assessed the potential role of negative mood regulation (NMR) expectancies (the extent to which one holds positive expectations of one's ability to cope with negative affect) in promoting problematic drinking behavior. This study evaluated the relationship between NMR expectancies and problem-related drinking while controlling for the influence of alcohol consumption, coping behaviors, drinking motives, demographic variables and affective distress. METHOD: Participants (N = 136, 80% female) were college undergraduates who completed a battery of self-report questionnaires on two occasions that were separated by 8 weeks. RESULTS: Initial correlational analyses indicated a strong (negative) association between NMR expectancies and problem drinking behavior. Findings from separate hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that NMR expectancies add significantly to the variance in predicting problem drinking, even when accounting for age and gender, alcohol consumption and, in respective analyses, coping styles, affective distress and drinking motives. Finally, simultaneous regression analyses showed that when all variables were considered together, only NMR expectancies, alcohol consumption and drinking-to-cope emerged as significant predictors of problem drinking. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the potential importance of NMR expectancies as a risk factor for problem drinking, above and beyond the risk posed by traditionally studied variables (e.g., depression and anxiety, coping repertoire and drinking motives). Results are interpreted within a self-regulation framework of alcohol consumption.