Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2018 Apr 16;73(4):655-665. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbw073.
Research with younger couples indicates that alcohol use has powerful effects on marital quality, but less work has examined the effects of drinking among older couples. This study examined whether dyadic patterns of drinking status among older couples are associated with negative marital quality over time.
Married participants (N = 4864) from the Health and Retirement Study reported on alcohol consumption (whether they drink alcohol and average amount consumed per week) and negative marital quality (e.g., criticism and demands) across two waves (Wave 1 2006/2008 and Wave 2 2010/2012).
Concordant drinking couples reported decreased negative marital quality over time, and these links were significantly greater among wives. 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.
The present findings stress the importance of considering the drinking status rather than the amount of alcohol consumed of both members of the couple when attempting to understand drinking and marital quality among older couples. These findings are particularly salient given the increased drinking among baby boomers and the importance of marital quality for health among older couples.
针对年轻夫妇的研究表明，饮酒对婚姻质量有很大影响，但对老年夫妇饮酒的影响研究较少。本研究考察了老年夫妇之间的饮酒模式是否与随时间推移而产生的负面婚姻质量有关。
来自健康与退休研究的已婚参与者（N=4864）在两个时间点（2006/2008 年的第 1 波和 2010/2012 年的第 2 波）报告了饮酒情况（是否饮酒以及每周平均饮酒量）和负面婚姻质量（例如批评和要求）。
一致饮酒的夫妇报告称，负面婚姻质量随时间推移而下降，而且这些关联在妻子中更为显著。报告饮酒的妻子，如果丈夫也报告饮酒，那么负面婚姻质量会随时间推移而下降；如果丈夫报告不饮酒，那么负面婚姻质量会随时间推移而上升。
本研究强调了在试图理解老年夫妇的饮酒和婚姻质量时，考虑夫妻双方的饮酒状况而不是饮酒量的重要性。鉴于婴儿潮一代饮酒量的增加以及婚姻质量对老年夫妇健康的重要性，这些发现尤为重要。
