Abstract
We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to estimate changes in binge drinking, marijuana use, and cigarette smoking surrounding young adults’ first experiences of cohabitation and marriage. Both marriage and cohabitation are accompanied by decreases in some risk behaviors, but reductions surrounding marriage are larger and most consistent, particularly for men. Binge drinking and marijuana use respond to these events, especially marriage, but smoking does not.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Bachman, J.G, P.M. O’Malley, J.E. Schulenberg, L.D. Johnston, A.L. Bryant, and A.C. Merline. 2002. The Decline of Substance Use in Young Adulthood: Changes in Social Activities, Roles, and Beliefs. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bachman, J.G., K.N. Wadsworth, P.M. O’Malley, L.D. Johnston, and J.E. Schulenberg. 1997. Smoking, Drinking, and Drug Use in Young Adulthood. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bulow, J.I. and L.H. Summers. 1986. “A Theory of Dual Labor Markets With Application to Industrial Policy, Discrimination, and Keynesian Unemployment.” Journal of Labor Economics 4:376–414.
Carlson, M., S. McLanahan, and P. England. 2004. “Family Formation in Fragile Families.” Demography 41:237–61.
Cherlin, A. 1978. “Remarriage as an Incomplete Institution.” American Journal of Sociology 84:634–50.
Curran, P.J., B.O. Muthen, and T.C. Harford. 1998. “The Influence of Changes in Marital Status on Developmental Trajectories of Alcohol Use in Young Adults.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 59:647–58.
Ellwood, D.T. and C. Jencks. 2001. “The Spread of Single Parent Families in the United States Since 1960.” Pp. 26–65 in The Future of the Family, edited by D.P. Moynihan, L. Rainwater, and T. Smeeding. New York: Russell Sage.
England, P. 2001. “Review of The Case for Marriage, L.J. Waite and M. Gallagher.” Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews 30:564–65.
Friedman, D. 1995. Towards a Structure of Indifference: The Social Origins of Maternal Custody. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Fu, H. and N. Goldman. 1996. “Incorporating Health Into Models of Marriage Choice: Demographic and Sociological Perspectives.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 58:740–58.
Hofferth, S. 2006. “Residential Father Family Type and Child Well-being: Investment Versus Selection.” Demography 43:53–77.
Homish G. and K. Leonard. 2005. “Spousal Influence on Smoking Behaviors in a U.S. Community Sample of Newly Married Couples.” Social Science and Medicine 61:2557–67.
Johnston, L.D., P.M. O’Malley, J.G. Bachman, and J.E. Schulenberg. 2005. “Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use. 1975–2004: Volume II. College Students and Adults Ages 19–45.” NIH Publication No. 05-5728. National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, MD.
Laub, J.H., D.S. Nagin, and R.J. Sampson. 1998. “Trajectories of Change in Criminal Offending: Good Marriages and the Desistance Process.” American Sociological Review 63:225–38.
Miller, J.W., J.C. Gfroerer, R.D. Brewer, T.S. Naimi, A. Mokdad, and W.H. Giles. 2004. “Prevalence of Adult Binge Drinking: A Comparison of Two National Surveys.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 27:197–204.
Miller-Tutzauer, C., K.E. Leonard, and M. Windle. 1991. “Marriage and Alcohol Use: A Longitudinal Study of ‘Maturing Out.’” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 52:434–40.
Mudar, P., J.N. Kearns, and K.E. Leonard. 2002. “The Transition to Marriage and Changes in Alcohol Involvement Among African American and Caucasian Couples.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 63:568–76.
Muthen, B.O. and L.K. Muthen. 2000. “The Development of Heavy Drinking and Alcohol-Related Problems From Ages 18 to 37 in a U.S. National Sample.” Journal of Studies of Alcohol 61:290–300.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. 2000. Highlights From the Tenth Special Report to Congress. Alcohol Research and Health 24. National Institute of Drug Abuse. 1999. “NIDA Research Report—Cocaine Abuse and Addiction.” NIH Publication No. 99-4342. Bethesda, MD, National Institutes of Health.
—. 2001. “NIDA Research Report—Tobacco Addiction.” NIH Publication No. 01-4342. Bethesda, MD, National Institutes of Health.
—. 2002. “NIDA Research Report—Marijuana Abuse.” NIH Publication No. 02-3859. Bethesda, MD, National Institutes of Health.
Nock, S.L. 1998. Marriage in Men’s Lives. New York: Oxford University Press.
Obot, I.S. and J.C. Anthony. 2000. “School Dropout and Injecting Drug Use in a National Sample of White Non-Hispanic American Adults.” Journal of Drug Education 30:145–55.
Umberson, D. 1987. “Family Status and Health Behaviors: Social Control as a Dimension of Social Integration.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 28:306–19.
— 1992. “Gender, Marital Status, and the Social Control of Behavior.” Social Science and Medicine 34:907–17.
Waite, L.J. 1995. “Does Marriage Matter?” Demography 32:483–507.
Waite, L.J. and M. Gallagher. 2000. The Case for Marriage: Why Married People Are Happier, Healthier and Better Off Financially. New York: Doubleday.
Willis, R.J. 2000. “The Economics of Fatherhood.” American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings 90:378–82.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
We are grateful to the Family and Child Well-being Research Network of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U01 HD30947-06) and the MacArthur Foundation Network on Family and the Economy for supporting this research. The article has benefited from discussions with members of the MacArthur Network and with Johanne Boisjoly and Nan Astone. An earlier version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, May 2, 2003.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Duncan, G.J., Wilkerson, B. & England, P. Cleaning up their act: The effects of marriage and cohabitation on licit and illicit drug use. Demography 43, 691–710 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2006.0032
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2006.0032