You booze, you lose…your spouse? According to a recent study, that’s not the case. A new study from the University of Buffalo examined the drinking habits of married couples and found that the more dissimilar partners’ sipping strategies, the more likely they were to divorce. Spouses with different drinking habits – one a teetotaler while one is a heavy drinker – had a higher divorce rate than spouses who drank in virtually the same fashion, and that included heavy drinkers. Researchers followed newlyweds for nine years and found that couples with similar drinking habits were 30 percent likely to divorce. Half of participants who had different drinking habits than their spouses divorced in that time. Study author Kenneth Leonard, Ph.D., concluded that couples with different drinking habits may be less likely to socialize together and in the same ways.

A quiet night in might be the perfect date for one spouse, while dancing the night away with a few cocktails at a nightclub might be perfect for the other. This discrepancy can lead to a lack of compatibility, one of the leading causes of divorce. Getting back on the same page with your spouse when it comes to drinking is a good start. If you’re the heavier drinker, then try limiting your intake to just wine at home on certain nights. Or cut down your nights out in favor of staying in with your spouse. Perhaps you can cut liquor from the shopping list and only drink cocktails when you go out to dinner. Schedule more time together, regardless of whether or not it involves drinking, and if you feel your drinking is a problem, get help.