Study: Couples who drink together, stay together

(Photo by George Marks/Retrofile/Getty Images)

Most would say things like communication, honesty and respect are the keys to a healthy relationship -- but a new study thinks otherwise.

A study published in The Journals of Gerontology finds that couples who drink alcohol together reported less negative relationship quality over time.

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"Wives who reported drinking alcohol reported decreased negative marital quality over time when husbands also reported drinking and increased negative marital quality over time when husbands reported not drinking," a summary of the results says. 

Researchers talked to more than 4,000 marries people who have been together for an average of 33 years, two thirds of which were on their first marriage, according to Reuters

“We’re not sure why this is happening,” Dr. Kira Birditt of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor told Reuters, “but it could be that couples that do more leisure time activities together have better marital quality.”

“The study shows that it’s not about how much they’re drinking, it’s about whether they drink at all,” Birditt said.

It's important to note than close to 20 percent of men and 6 percent of women in the study had significant drinking problems. 

 

 


About the Author:

Ken Haddad has proudly been with WDIV/ClickOnDetroit since 2013. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters, and helps lead the WDIV Insider team. He's a big sports fan and is constantly sipping Lions Kool-Aid.

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