Many people would agree that overindulging in alcohol is not exactly a healthy thing to do. Many people have experienced negative consequences in their personal lives or have witnessed negative consequences due to another person’s drinking at one time or another. Therefore, many people would assume that there mere existence of heavy drinking in a marriage would make divorce more likely in New York or in any other state. However, statistics recently released seem to suggest this may not necessarily be true in all circumstances.
Researchers published their findings from a study of married couples which followed the couples from when their marriages began through the first nine years of being married. The study included 634 married couples. The researchers, for the purpose of this particular study, defined “heavy drinking” as having six or more alcoholic beverages or drinking until intoxicated.
The nine-year study surprisingly found that couples with two heavy drinkers do not have any increased likelihood to divorce compared to couples with no heavy drinkers. However, it turns out that a couple with only one heavy drinker has more likelihood of divorce than other married couples. The study showed almost 50 percent of married couples with only one heavy drinking spouse had ended in divorce. On the other hand, the study only showed a 30 percent divorce rate for other couples.
However, whether or not a person or a person’s spouse drinks heavily, it is possible that any couple may find themselves with conflict and problems in a marriage. Although it can be a difficult decision, there are times when divorce is the best answer for some New York spouses. If one does decide to go this route, it can be essential to have a good understanding of the laws regulating divorce. This can help a spouse make the right decision when crafting a legal strategy to navigate through the divorce process.
Source: UPI.com, Couples with only one a heavy drinker tend to have higher divorce rate, No author, Nov. 24, 2013
