The drinking partnership and marital satisfaction: The longitudinal influence of discrepant drinking.

The objective was to determine whether discrepancies between husbands' and wives' past-year heavy drinking predicted decreased marital satisfaction over time. Participants (N = 634) were recruited at the time they applied for their marriage licenses. Couples completed questionnaires about their alcohol use and marital satisfaction at the time of marriage and again at their 1st and 2nd anniversaries. Generalized estimating equation models were used to evaluate the association between discrepancies in husbands' and wives' heavy drinking in the year prior to marriage and marital satisfaction at the 1st wedding anniversary and the association between discrepancies in heavy alcohol use in the 1st year of marriage and marital satisfaction at the 2nd wedding anniversary. In these prospective time-lagged analyses, discrepancies in husbands' and wives' heavy drinking predicted decreased marital satisfaction over time while controlling for heavy drinking. Over time, these couples may be at greater risk for decreased marital functioning that may lead to relationship dissolution. Copyright 2007 APA, all rights reserved).