Consistent with theoretical accounts and previous research studies, paternal alcoholism was associated with decreased marital satisfaction for both husbands and wives. This may be because of the stresses of husband's alcoholism on his wife. However, because wives were not heavy drinkers, this might also reflect the impact of incongruent drinking patterns (i.e., patterns in which one partner drinks and the other does not, Homish & Leonard, 2005, 2007). Taken together, these findings provide additional support to the growing literature on the negative effects that partner alcoholism can have on the marital relationship.
