Married men drink less alcohol

Marry as a strategy against alcohol?

19/08/2012

Married men show lower alcohol consumption than single women, whereas women drink more alcohol in marriage than single people. This is the conclusion of a survey of US scientists investigating possible links between marital status and alcohol consumption.

The marriage has far-reaching consequences for the lives of both partners. US researchers have now discovered that alcohol consumption among married people is also different. While marriages tend to banish men from alcohol, women in marriage tend to drink more alcohol, according to a study by Drs. Corinne Reczek from the University of Cincinnati and colleagues today at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA) in Denver.

The relationship between marital status and alcohol consumption was examined
As part of their survey study, the US scientists evaluated several previous studies, which totaled a total of more than 5,300 people. Most of the data came from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) for the 2,439 men and 2,866 women interviewed four times between 1957 and 2004, respectively. Supplements benefit Corinne Reczek and colleagues conducted a total of 120 further interviews from the years 2003 to 2010. On the basis of the test persons' information on the number of drinks consumed per month, the US scientists estimated their alcohol consumption.

Women drink more in marriage
According to the results of the US scientists married men drink significantly less alcohol than single, divorced or widowed men. "For women, however, alcohol consumption in marriage was on average slightly higher than among singles, divorced or widowed," the scientists report. Corinne Reczek in a pre-announcement from ASA on the presentations at her annual congress. However, the link between alcohol consumption and marital status is much more complex than the simple statement „Married men drink less“ suggests. Because the researchers also found from the data also found that in married men who have alcohol problems, the consumption was much higher than single people with alcohol problems. Women "drink more in marriage, but single women, as well as divorced women, are much more likely to become addicted to alcohol." "Shortly after divorce, both men and women increasingly resort to alcoholic drinks".

To the team around Dr. Corinne Reczek also included scientists from the University of Texas and the State University of New Jersey-Rutgers. The presentation of their study was one of many contributions that can be heard until Sunday (August 20) in Denver at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. (Fp)

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