Randi Martin, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – The chances of growing old with your spouse may depend on how much you drink together, according to a new study.

Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health developed a study to find out if how much drinking had an effect on marriage. According to their study, the more couples drank, the more likely they would get divorced.

The study involving nearly 20,000 couples over a 15-year period was published this month in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. The researchers looked at how much couples drank together or alone and their stress levels related to work and home.

The study found divorce rates tripled when the wife was the heavy drinker — classified as drinking more than 10 times in two weeks — and were 1.5 higher if the man was the heavy drinker.

Couples who have the best chance of staying together abstain from alcohol or drink the same amount of alcohol in low amounts, the study says.

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