A University of Michigan study suggests couples who share similar drinking habits tend to live longer than those who don't. Researchers analysed data from over 9,000 heterosexual, married, or cohabiting couples. They found couples who both drank moderately lived longer than couples where one partner drank heavily or neither drank.
In a recent study published in The Gerontologist, researchers caution against interpreting this as encouragement to drink more. The exact reason for the link between shared drinking habits and longevity remains unclear. However, the study highlights how couples' lifestyles can influence each other's health. Couples with similar drinking habits may reflect a more synchronised lifestyle and better relationship satisfaction.
Kira Birditt, research professor at the U-M Institute for Social Research's Survey Research Centre, found that couples who are concordant in their drinking behaviour (that is, both members drink alcohol) tend to live longer.
She says in a statement that a theory in alcohol literature called "the drinking partnership," where couples who have similar patterns of alcohol use tend to have better marital outcomes (such as less conflict and longer marriages), was the inspiration behind the study.
Although a great deal of research has examined the implications of couples' drinking patterns for marital outcomes, the implications for health are less clear. Behaviours that are good for marriage are not necessarily good for health, Birditt says.
"The purpose of this study was to look at alcohol use in couples in the Health and Retirement Study and the implications for mortality," she 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 study is limited to heterosexual couples and doesn't account for the type of alcohol consumed. Further research is needed to explore how these factors influence couples in same-sex relationships and how the type of alcohol plays a role.
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