Gaby
Researchers at the University of Michigan have released intriguing findings. Their study focused not on an occasional bottle of wine on a romantic date but on regular alcohol use among long-term couples.
According to the Daily Mail, married couples who regularly drink together tend to have stronger marriages and live longer.
What the Researchers Discovered
Professor Kira Burdett, the study’s lead author, said her research was inspired by a theory called “drinking partnership.” That idea suggests marriages are stronger and lives longer when spouses share similar drinking habits.
Burdett said the study aimed to examine couples’ alcohol use and its effect on mortality.
The university team analyzed data from more than 4,500 married couples, including those in civil partnerships. Every two years for two decades, participants answered questions from the researchers.
The team uncovered a clear pattern. Couples who had drunk together in the past three months lived longer than couples who didn’t drink at all or who had mixed drinking habits (for example, one partner drank while the other didn’t).
Shared drinking habits may reflect compatible lifestyles, intimacy, and relationship satisfaction.
“In other studies, we also found that couples who drink together tend to have better relationship quality; this likely strengthens their closeness,” Burdett said.
But the researchers warn this isn’t a green light to drink more. The results pointed to moderate alcohol consumption being associated with better marital outcomes and longer lives for partners.
Burdett hopes future research will look more closely at couples’ day-to-day lives — what they do when they drink and when they don’t. Those details could help clarify the connection.
The study’s results were published in the journal The Gerontologist.
