Relationship-specific alcohol expectancies and relationship-drinking contexts: reciprocal influence and gender-specific effects over the first 9 years of marriage.

Previous research has suggested that individuals in romantic relationships hold beliefs about the effects of relationship-drinking contexts (e.g., drinking with one's partner) on later relationship functioning, as well as the effects of relationship functioning on later relationship-drinking contexts, and that these reciprocal effects may be stronger among women compared with men. However, little research has directly examined relationship-specific alcohol expectancies, and no studies have tested the reciprocal associations between these expectancies and the extent of drinking in specific relationship contexts. The current study examined these reciprocal effects by testing time-lagged multilevel models using data from a community sample of 470 married couples during the first 9 years of marriage. As expected, results showed reciprocal effects between intimacy and social expectancies, respectively, and the extent of drinking-with-partner when both partners were drinking, which appeared to be adaptive mechanisms for relationships. Also as expected, some of these effects differed or were stronger for wives compared with husbands. Unexpectedly, reciprocal effects were also found between power expectancies and the extent of drinking apart from one's partner, which appeared to be maladaptive mechanisms for relationships. The current study supports and extends previous research on alcohol use in romantic relationships by showing how relationship-specific alcohol expectancies influence and are influenced from relationship-drinking contexts, and which processes might be adaptive versus maladaptive for romantic relationships. Implications for future research and theory are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.