Alcohol use and partner expectations among newly married couples

The objective of this work was to determine if a spouse's expectations about a married person's drinking patterns affected his/her partner's alcohol use and alcohol use-related problems. Alcohol use and problems were assessed in a U.S. urban sample of 634 couples at the time they applied for their marriage license (1996-1999) and at their first and second anniversaries. Husbands' expectations about married women's alcohol use, as well as wives' expectations about married men's alcohol use, were assessed at each wave using a three-item scale. Linear regression models were used to identify the longitudinal association between a person's expectations of married individuals' drinking patterns and his/her spouse's alcohol use the following year. Evidence was found to support the relation between one spouse's expectations and his/her partner's alcohol use. However, wives' expectations appeared more influential compared to husbands and this influence is not present at the start of marriage, but rather develops slightly later. The study's limitations are noted.