- Study looked at the alcohol drinking habits of 2,425 identical twins
- It found married twins drank less than their identical single siblings
- Scientists believe married couples tend to ‘monitor’ each other more
- Cohabiting couples also drank more than their married counterpars
Colin Fernandez Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail
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A nagging spouse has been blamed for driving many a person to drink.
But it seems the old excuse for enjoying one too many in the pub is just that – as new research suggests being married makes you drink less.
Those who have tied the knot have fewer drinks overall and drink less frequently than single people, a study found.
Scientists suggest husbands and wives ‘monitor’ each other’s drinking, stopping them going over the top.
Another possibility is that people who drink less are more likely to tie the knot.
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Scientists believe married couples tend to ‘monitor’ each other’s drinking habits more, resulting in them drinking less than those cohabiting or singletons
The study – which also found the same effect for co-habiting couples – was carried out on 2,425 identical twins.
This was done to rule out the chance that some individuals might have a genetic bias towards alcohol.
It found married twins drank less than their genetically identical single siblings.
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Diana Dinescu, a psychologist at the University of Virginia said the findings showed that ‘intimate relationships cause a decline in alcohol consumption’.
She said: ‘It is impossible to tell from correlational research whether marital status has a protective effect, or whether people who naturally drink less simply are more likely to get married.
‘By using twins, our study allows us to eliminate entire classes of alternative explanations, such as genetic predispositions and upbringing influences, and brings us a step closer to understanding the true impact of relationships on drinking behaviour.’
The researchers sampled 1,618 female pairs and 807 male pairs of twins, who were asked their marital status, whether they were married, divorced, widowed, separated, never married or cohabiting.
They also asked how much alcohol the participants drank and how frequently.
The researchers found that cohabitating participants generally drank more frequently than married men and women participants, but less than their single, widowed and divorced counterparts.
Single women and men consume more alcohol as they self-regulate how much they drink, the study by the University of Virginia found
Cohabitating men, however, consume fewer alcoholic drinks per occasion than married men, while – quantity-wise – cohabitating women drink about the same in one sitting as their married counterparts.
The study, published in the Journal of Family Psychology, concluded that once a relationship is over, people may be more inclined to drink more heavily in a session, but not necessarily more frequently.
Ms Dinescu added: ‘It is useful to look at drinking frequency and quantity separately, as we believe they are fundamentally different behaviours in both intention and venue.
‘Our data revealed an interesting pattern where, once you’re in a committed relationship, your drinking frequency declines permanently, whereas quantity goes back up if you exit that relationship.
‘It seems that intimate relationships may provide a real benefit in terms of drinking behavior, maybe through mechanisms such as a monitoring effect that partners have on each other.’
The research adds to previous studies which found couples who drink a similar amount are more likely to stay together than those where one is a heavy drinker and the other is abstemious.
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