Romantic relationships and alcohol use

The focus of this review is on the associations of alcohol use and aspects of romantic relationships. The review covers concepts and methods, partner drinking associations, effects of relationships on drinking, and drinking effects on relationships. Several conclusions were reached. People are attracted to similarly drinking others. With greater relationship commitment there is greater desistance from drinking. Across time and relationship commitment levels, socialization influences vary by gender. A thread throughout the review was the identification of congruent and discrepant drinking among relationship partners. Congruent drinking, even at higher levels, was associated with more positive outcomes whereas discrepant drinking was associated with more negative outcomes. Needed for the future are greater theory development and longitudinal and laboratory studies that include diverse samples and both parties to the relationship.