Study Shows Heavy Drinkers Marry Later, Split Sooner

It’s common sense when you think about it, but a recent scientific study found that people who have drinking problems tend to wait longer to get married and divorce their partners sooner than people who are not problem drinkers. The study began in the 1980s, when researchers tapped more than 5,000 Australian twins and studied their alcohol use as well as what age they married and what age they split from their partners.

Researchers say this is one example of how drinking affects people other than the one who’s doing the drinking.

“Young adults who drink alcohol may want to consider the longer-term consequences for marriage,” lead author Mary Waldron, an assistant professor at the Indiana University School of Education, said. “If drinking continues or increases to levels of problem use, likelihood of marriage, or of having a lasting marriage, may decrease.”

In conclusion: That guy who’s doing Jäger shots at the end of the bar? Fun for a round of beer pong, not so fun for the long haul. Choose a boyfriend (and, later, a fiancé) who keeps his booze intake in check.

[Medline Plus]

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