Longitudinal association between marital dissatisfaction and alcohol use disorders in a community sample.
The prospective association between marital dissatisfaction and alcohol use disorders (abuse and/or dependence) was evaluated in a randomly selected community sample. Married individuals (N = 1,675) from the New Haven Epidemiologic Catchment Area project who did not have a current alcohol use disorder at baseline were followed prospectively for 12 months. Results indicated that baseline marital dissatisfaction was significantly associated with alcohol use disorder diagnosis during follow-up, with dissatisfied spouses being 3.7 times more likely than satisfied spouses to have a diagnosis of current alcohol use disorder at follow-up. The longitudinal association between baseline marital dissatisfaction and current alcohol use disorder diagnosis at follow-up remained significant when controlling for baseline demographic variables and history of alcohol use disorders.
Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0345, USA. whisman@colorado.edu
Mark A
MA
Whisman
Lisa A
LA
Uebelacker
Martha L
ML
Bruce
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D003120:Colorado / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires