@article {8373, title = {Marital Histories and Heavy Alcohol Use among Older Adults.}, journal = {J Health Soc Behav}, volume = {57}, year = {2016}, note = {Times Cited: 0 0}, month = {2016 Mar}, pages = {77-96}, publisher = {57}, abstract = {

We develop a gendered marital biography approach-which emphasizes the accumulating gendered experiences of singlehood, marriage, marital dissolution, and remarriage-to examine the relationship between marital statuses and transitions and heavy alcohol use. We test this approach using individual-level (n = 10,457) and couple-level (n = 2,170) longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study, and individual-level (n = 46) and couple-level (n = 42) in-depth interview data. Quantitative results show that marriage, including remarriage, reduces men{\textquoteright}s but increases women{\textquoteright}s drinking relative to being never married and previously married, whereas divorce increases men{\textquoteright}s but decrease women{\textquoteright}s drinking, with some variation by age. Our qualitative findings reveal that social control and convergence processes underlie quantitative results. We call attention to how men{\textquoteright}s and women{\textquoteright}s heavy drinking trajectories stop, start, and change direction as individuals move through their distinctive marital biography.

}, keywords = {Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Alcohol Drinking, Divorce, Female, Humans, Male, Marital Status, Marriage, Middle Aged, Models, Psychological, Socioeconomic factors}, issn = {2150-6000}, doi = {10.1177/0022146515628028}, author = {Reczek, Corinne and Tetyana Pudrovska and Deborah Carr and Thomeer, Mieke Beth and Debra Umberson} }