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Complex relationships exist between alcohol use disorder (AUD) and marriage. In a study using Swedish registry data, marriage to nonalcoholic spouses reduced AUD risk (NEJM JW Psychiatry Jul 2016 and Am J Psychiatry 2016; 173:911). Now, the same researchers examine divorce and AUD onset. Study data concerned 942,366 individuals (women, 53%) born between 1960 and 1990, without AUD before marriage (mean age at marriage, 30). Follow-up continued through 2008.
At a mean of 7 years after marriage, 16% of men and 17% of women divorced; overall, initial AUD was noted in 1.1% of men and 0.5% of women (mean age, 39). In analyses adjusting for independent AUD risk predictors (low parental education, prior deviant/externalizing behavior, and family AUD…