Partner Conflict and Support as Moderators of Alcohol Use on Alcohol Problems and Marital Satisfaction in Young Adult Marital Dyads

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Michael Windle, Emory University; Rebecca Windle, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-04-01
• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acer.13977
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
• Volume: 43
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 668
• End Page: 678
• Grant/Funding Information: This research was supported by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Grant Number R01AA023826.
• Keywords: Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Science & Technology; Relationship drinking contexts; Expectancies; Substance use; Temporal association; Alcohol Use; Perceptions; Social support; Substance Abuse; Alcohol Problems; Quality; Marital Dyads; Family; Partner Conflict; Partner Support; Gender; Depressive symptoms
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Sociology, Public and Social Welfare; Psychology, Behavioral

Abstract

Background: This cross-sectional study used data from 483 young adult marital dyads to evaluate conflict-with-partner and support-from-partner as moderators of alcohol use on 2 outcomes: alcohol problems and marital satisfaction. A path analytic modeling approach was used to test stress-exacerbating and stress-buffering hypotheses, and to accommodate the interdependent nature of the dyadic data. Methods: This cross-sectional sample was selected from an adolescent-to-young adult longitudinal study in which spouses were recruited into the study during a later young adult assessment when the sample was, on average, 32.5 years old. Individual interviews using computerized technology were conducted with participants. Results: Findings for the outcome of alcohol problems indicated stress exacerbation in that higher conflict by each partner in interaction with higher alcohol use was associated with more alcohol problems for wives. Husbands' and wives' alcohol problems were lower when higher partner support buffered the association between alcohol use and alcohol problems. For the outcome of marital satisfaction, higher support-from-partner buffered the association between alcohol use and marital satisfaction. Finally, the combination of alcohol use and conflict-with-partner had more adverse implications for women's alcohol problems relative to men's alcohol problems. Conclusions: These findings highlight that interactions between interpersonal dimensions of romantic relationships and alcohol use by both partners contribute to our understanding of their associations with alcohol problems and marital satisfaction within the marital relationship. Furthermore, there was some sex specificity in that some interactions were more prominently associated with alcohol problems for wives than husbands.