Couples' Drinking Habits May Predict Likelihood Of Divorce, Study Finds

A new study concludes that heavy drinking isn't a marital deal-breaker -- so long as both spouses are consuming the same amount of alcohol.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo followed 634 couples through the first nine years of marriage and discovered that couples who drink similar amounts of alcohol on average are more likely to have a successful marriage than couples who differ in their drinking patterns.

Specifically, 50 percent of couples in which one partner was imbibing significantly more than their spouse ended up divorcing. However, that number dropped to 30 percent for couples who possessed similar drinking habits, regardless of if they were heavy or light drinkers.

Our results indicate that it is the difference between the couples drinking habits, rather than the drinking itself, that leads to marital dissatisfaction, separation and divorce, Kenneth Leonard, the lead author on the study, said in a statement. Watch the video below to hear more.

It's not the first time researchers have found a link between drinking habits and divorce. Researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health looked at data collected from 19,977 married couples and concluded the same thing -- those who matched in drinking habits were less likely to split.

Check out the slideshow below for more interesting divorce-related studies.

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