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The crown of love: intimate relations and alcohol use in adolescence

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Abstract

Background

Remarkably, little attention has been paid to the role of intimate partners and their drinking behavior in relation to adolescent alcohol use. In the current study, we examined associations between adolescent alcohol use and romantic partners’ drinking behavior.

Methods

A total of 428 families, consisting of both parents and two adolescents (aged 13.4 and 15.2 at Time 1) participated in a prospective study with four annual waves. Correlations and multivariate regressions were used to examine (1) similarity in drinking behaviors of adolescents and intimate partners, (2) whether alcohol use of partners prospectively predicts adolescent alcohol consumption, and (3) whether adolescents who consume alcohol select partners over time who show similar drinking behaviors.

Results

(1) Frequency of alcohol consumption of adolescents and of their romantic partners correlated significantly. (2) Alcohol use of partners was not predictive of adolescent alcohol consumption over time, if previous levels of alcohol consumption were taken into account. (3) Adolescents acquired partners with similar drinking behaviors. Gender effects were found; adolescent girls, but not boys, were more likely to become involved with partners who also frequently consumed alcohol.

Conclusions

Regarding alcohol consumption, adolescents and their intimate partners were relatively similar in alcohol use. This resemblance is best explained by adolescents’ selection of future partner on the basis of alcohol consumption. Less indication was found for influence effects, perhaps due to the transient nature of most adolescent romantic relationships.

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Notes

  1. Resemblance and similarity are in this context considered relative concepts, since females consume systematically less alcohol than males.

  2. By mentioning these two processes, it is not intended to be exhaustive in potential processes underlying mate similarity. Other approaches have been mentioned, such as the social homogamy process [47] and the evolutionary psychology paradigm [5].

  3. To describe the younger participating adolescent of the family the terms ‘younger adolescent’ and ‘younger sibling’ will be used interchangeably throughout this article. In a similar vein ‘older adolescent’ and ‘older sibling’ will both be used to denote the older participating sibling of the family.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Carmen S. van der Zwaluw, Ron H. J. Scholte, Ad A. Vermulst & Rutger C. M. E. Engels

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Jan Buitelaar & Robbert Jan Verkes

Authors
  1. Carmen S. van der Zwaluw
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  2. Ron H. J. Scholte
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  3. Ad A. Vermulst
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  4. Jan Buitelaar
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  6. Rutger C. M. E. Engels
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Correspondence to Carmen S. van der Zwaluw.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Table 6 Prospective relationships between involvement with a romantic partner and adolescent alcohol use
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van der Zwaluw, C.S., Scholte, R.H.J., Vermulst, A.A. et al. The crown of love: intimate relations and alcohol use in adolescence. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 18, 407–417 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-009-0748-6

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