CBS News has just reported on a new study that links marriage and alcohol use/abuse, a connection that leads to different consequences for men and women… and the findings are very interesting!
Past studies reveal that married people drink less than single people, and that married men drink less than women. This new study adds a whole new element: a married women, on average, drinks more than a woman who was never married, divorced or widowed, because she’s either influenced by her husband’s alcohol consumption, or she enjoys drinking with her husband as a couple.
In this still-unpublished study, being presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, researchers found that married men drink less than married women because 1) they spend less time with their drinking buddies, 2) their wives drink less than they do and 3) their wives limit how much they drink.
When it comes to divorce, however, it’s men who are at a higher risk of alcoholism, due to their coping mechanisms with stress and pain. And while men tend to drink more as a result of divorce, research shows women cope more by internalizing their stress, which results in higher cases of depression, weight loss and diet changes in women who experience divorce, rather than higher alcohol consumption. Women typically also drink less than men after divorce because they’re no longer influenced by their drinking husbands.
So what’s the lesson here? Men, if you’re going through divorce, watch your drinking. Men, listen to your wives when they tell you to lay off the alcohol. Women… don’t do anything, you’re perfect! Just kidding.
Do these new findings ring true for your marriage?
No comments:
Post a Comment