The statistics are sobering. Many adults suffer from some form of alcohol abuse. The causes of alcohol abuse are complex and can be a combination of genetic, environmental, and social factors, including a family history of alcoholism. However, this familial effect may be more complicated than initially believed.
New research has uncovered a previously unrecognized family link to alcohol abuse:the drinking habits of one's in-laws. This study suggests that marrying a partner who was exposed to parental alcohol abuse as a child increases the risk of alcohol dependence, even if the partner does not have a drinking disorder.
"Our goal here was to investigate whether a partner's genetic makeup influences risk for alcoholism," said Jessica Salvatore, an assistant professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, and lead author of the study. “In a somewhat surprising twist, we found that it was not the genetic makeup of the partner that influenced the risk of alcohol dependence. Rather, it was about whether the partner was raised by a parent with an alcohol addiction.”
The researchers analyzed marriage information from more than 300,000 couples in Swedish national population registers, and found that marrying a partner with a predisposition to alcohol abuse increases the risk of developing alcoholism. This increased risk was not explained by the partner's socioeconomic status, alcohol abuse status, or contact with the partner's parents. Instead, the researchers found that this increased risk, rather than genetics, reflected the psychological consequences of the partner having grown up with a parent who has an alcohol addiction.
“Growing up with a parent who is addicted to alcohol can teach people to act in ways that amplify a partner's drinking problem,” Salvatore said. “For example, taking care of a partner if he or she has a hangover.”
The study's findings underscore the harmful and long-lasting impact of growing up with a parent with alcoholism, even to the partners of their adult children.
"It shows the wide reach that parents' alcohol problems have for the next generation," Salvatore said. “It's not just the offspring of affected parents who are at risk, it's the people those offspring eventually marry.”
The findings are consistent with evidence from other research labs, she said, suggesting that those growing up with a parent with an alcohol disorder are at particularly high risk for using alcohol as a "tool" to improve their marital partnership.
“These kinds of processes can inadvertently lead a partner down the path of alcohol abuse,” she said. “To be clear, I suspect these processes are beyond people's conscious control. Nobody wants to 'give' their partner an alcohol problem."
“At best, partners can be one of our first defenses against ill health — they annoy us when scheduling our annual exams, and they're one of the first to notice when we're feeling down or drinking too much. But partners can also be liable for ill health,” she said. “The results of this study underscore how a partner's experiences in his/her family of origin may be a risk factor for the development of alcohol problems.”
