Women tend to marry men whose drinking habits match their own

Contrary to a longstanding notion, men do not generally influence their wives? or partners? drinking patterns, according to the latest findings in a longitudinal study of women and alcohol.

Instead, women tracked in the survey tended to marry men whose drinking habits mirrored their own, says Sharon Wilsnack, PhD, a psychologist at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Wilsnack is conducting the study with her husband, sociologist Richard Wilsnack, PhD.

The Wilsnacks base their conclusions on anonymous face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,100 women, 354 of whom they?ve tracked since 1981. They have collected and reported on the data periodically over the last 15 years. This latest data, collected in 1996, also included interviews with 369 male spouses.

The University of Chicago?s National Opinion Research Center helped the Wilsnacks conduct the interviews.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), which is funding the study, calls the Wilsnacks? work the best study to date on women and alcohol. Most research on alcohol use has historically focused on men, NIAAA officials note.

Despite their findings about men?s lack of influence on their wives? drinking, the Wilsnacks have found that women who work in male-dominated careers?such as construction or airline piloting?drink more than those who are teachers, nurses or librarians.

They also found in the most recent interviews that women who juggle several roles?such as wife, mother and employee?are less likely to have drinking problems than women who have fewer roles.

?That breaks an old myth, too,? Sharon Wilsnack says. ?In the 1970s, there was a Rand Corporation survey that found the married women who worked outside the home had higher rates of drinking. We found the opposite pattern. Having too few roles, not too many, was a risk factor.?

Some of the survey?s findings can be found in the Wilsnacks? new book, ?Gender and Alcohol? (Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies, 1997).