If marriage has a consistent protective effect across development, we would expect that marriage would be associated with reductions in heavy episodic drinking (Bachman et al., 1984; Grant et al., 2015; Leonard & Rothbard, 1999). Similarly, if marriage has a uniformly moderating protective effect on genetic risk across development, we would expect that genetic risk would be attenuated for those who are married compared to those who are unmarried (Barr et al., 2017; Heath, Jardine, & Martin, 1989; Kendler et al., 2016; Prescott & Kendler, 2001). However, given that early marriage is associated with poorer outcomes across a range of domains (e.g., educational attainment, finances, and health; Dupre & Meadows, 2007; Elder; 1994; Lehrer, 2004; Uecker, 2014), we did not advance directional hypotheses for either research question.
