Partner Conflict and Support as Moderators of Alcohol Use on Alcohol Problems and Marital Satisfaction in Young Adult Marital Dyads

Background This cross-sectional study used data from 483 young adult marital dyads to evaluate conflict-with-partner and support-from-partner as moderators of alcohol use on 2 outcomes: alcohol problems and marital satisfaction. A path analytic modeling approach was used to test stress-exacerbating and stress-buffering hypotheses, and to accommodate the interdependent nature of the dyadic data. Methods This cross-sectional sample was selected from an adolescent-to-young adult longitudinal study in which spouses were recruited into the study during a later young adult assessment when the sample was, on average, 32.5 years old. Individual interviews using computerized technology were conducted with participants. Results Findings for the outcome of alcohol problems indicated stress exacerbation in that higher conflict by each partner in interaction with higher alcohol use was associated with more alcohol problems for wives. Husbands' and wives' alcohol problems were lower when higher partner support buffered the association between alcohol use and alcohol problems. For the outcome of marital satisfaction, higher support-from-partner buffered the association between alcohol use and marital satisfaction. Finally, the combination of alcohol use and conflict-with-partner had more adverse implications for women's alcohol problems relative to men's alcohol problems. Conclusions These findings highlight that interactions between interpersonal dimensions of romantic relationships and alcohol use by both partners contribute to our understanding of their associations with alcohol problems and marital satisfaction within the marital relationship. Furthermore, there was some sex specificity in that some interactions were more prominently associated with alcohol problems for wives than husbands.