Alcohol, relationships, and longevity: Couples with similar drinking habits tend to live longer

Recent research has found an intriguing connection between the drinking habits of couples and longevity. The study, published in The Gerontologist, suggests that couples with similar alcohol consumption habits tend to live longer compared to couples with discordant drinking behaviors, where one drinks and the other does not.

However, it’s important to note that this finding is not an endorsement for increased alcohol consumption, but rather highlights the complex interactions between marital behaviors and health outcomes.

Past studies have extensively explored how the drinking behaviors of couples affect their marital satisfaction, often showing that similar drinking habits can lead to better relationship outcomes, such as reduced conflict and lower divorce rates. However, the implications of these drinking patterns on physical health have remained less understood.

Motivated by a theory known as “the drinking partnership,” which suggests that couples with aligned drinking habits experience better marital outcomes, Kira Birditt and her team at the University of Michigan aimed to investigate whether these patterns also correlate with increased longevity.

The study utilized data from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults aged 50 and older. The researchers specifically focused on married or cohabiting couples within the HRS dataset. The sample included 4,656 couples, totaling 9,312 individuals, who had participated in at least three waves of the survey from 1996 to 2016.

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The primary measure of interest was the couples’ drinking status, specifically whether each partner had consumed any alcoholic beverages within the last three months. This timeframe provided a recent snapshot of drinking behaviors without delving into the quantity or frequency of alcohol consumption, broadly categorizing participants into drinkers and non-drinkers. The researchers then classified the couples based on their concordance in drinking behaviors: both drinking, both abstaining, or discordant if one drank and the other did not.

To assess the impact of these drinking patterns on longevity, the study analyzed survival rates of the individuals within these couples up until 2016. The analysis controlled for a variety of potential confounders that could influence the outcomes, such as age, gender, socioeconomic status, and underlying health conditions.

The researchers found that couples with concordant drinking behaviors—where both partners either drank or abstained from alcohol—exhibited a higher survival rate compared to couples where drinking patterns were discordant. Interestingly, this effect was most pronounced in couples where both partners drank as opposed to those where both abstained, suggesting that the social and possibly relational aspects of drinking together might play a role in this observed benefit.

Couples in which one partner drank and the other did not showed the least favorable survival outcomes. This pattern suggests that beyond the physiological impacts of alcohol itself, the compatibility of lifestyles and the harmony within the relationship regarding drinking might significantly influence health outcomes. These results align with previous research indicating that marital discord or lack of alignment in behaviors and values can have negative health implications.

“The purpose of this study was to look at alcohol use in couples in the Health and Retirement Study and the implications for mortality,” Birditt said. “And we found, interestingly, that couples in which both indicated drinking alcohol in the last three months lived longer than the other couples that either both indicated not drinking or had discordant drinking patterns in which one drank and the other did not.”

The researchers cautioned against interpreting these findings simplistically as endorsing alcohol consumption for longer life. Instead, they highlighted that the results might reflect broader dynamics of relationship quality and compatibility. For instance, couples who drink together may engage in more shared activities or have higher relationship satisfaction, which in turn could positively affect their health.

Future research is needed to explore these relationships further, particularly focusing on the quality of interactions and shared activities during drinking sessions, as well as the impact of drinking habits on daily marital quality and physical health.

Birditt plans to extend this research by examining the daily lives of concordant drinking couples through more detailed tracking methods, such as ecological momentary assessment, to better understand the nuances of how shared drinking relates to relationship satisfaction and health outcomes.

“We don’t know why both partners drinking is associated with better survival. I think using the other techniques that we use in our studies in terms of the daily experiences and ecological momentary assessment questionnaires could really get at that to understand, for example, focusing on concordant drinking couples,” she said. “What are their daily lives like? Are they drinking together? What are they doing when they are drinking?

“There is also little information about the daily interpersonal processes that account for these links. Future research should assess the implications of couple drinking patterns for daily marital quality, and daily physical health outcomes.”

The study, “Alcohol Use and Mortality Among Older Couples in the United States: Evidence of Individual and Partner Effects,” was authored by Kira S. Birditt, Angela Turkelson, Courtney A. Polenick, James A. Cranford, Jennifer A Smith, Erin B. Ware, and Frederic C. Blow.