There is a bewildering amount of divorce -and marriage-related research out there, and some of the findings are bizarre to say the least. However, one recent study that was reported by scientists at the University of Buffalo does have a ring of truth to it. According to the study, heavy drinking may be damaging to a marriage, but not necessarily if both spouses drink heavily. The marriage may be in trouble, if only one spouse drinks heavily.
According to the study, drinking habits of both spouses must match for the marriage to be successful. The researchers analyzed 634 couples, and these couples were monitored from the time that they got married over the first nine years of their marriage. The researchers found in their analysis that in those marriages where only one spouse was a heavy drinker, the divorce rate was much higher, compared to the other couples. The researchers also found that in those marriages where both the spouses drank heavily, the divorce rate was the same as for those couples, where neither partner drank heavily.
This seems to indicate to San Jose divorce lawyers that it is the difference in the alcohol-related drinking habits that are to blame for the trouble in the marriage, and not the alcohol-related behavior itself. It is not drinking that is the cause of the trouble, but the fact that it is only one person in the marriage whose behavior seems to be excessive.
The researchers found that approximately 50% of the marriages in which only one of the partners drank heavily ended in divorce over the nine-year period. The divorce rate for the other couples was only approximately 30%.