Does your special guy or girl love to drink? Be careful! According to a new study, young men and women who date binge drinkers begin to drink significantly more themselves.

To study the effects binge drinking has on those in romantic relationships, researchers from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia rounded up 208 unmarried, heterosexual couples who had been dating at least three months (thought the average was two years). All of the participants were in their early twenties and at least one of them was a college student. Researchers then studied the couples and were able to successfully predict which participants would begin to binge drink based on the behavior of the participant’s significant other. In other words, if one young person drank a lot, their partner began drinking a lot too.

“Binge drinking in university students occurs in both young men and women,” wrote lead author Aislin Mushquash. “Studies with married couples show that men have more of an influence on women, but in our study, we found both young women and young men influence their partner’s binge drinking.”

Binge drinking is defined as consuming at least four to five drinks in two hours.

To be clear, the study isn’t referring to couples who casually drink, but rather those who rely on alcohol to bond and socialize.

“We’re not talking about a guy and a girl who like to enjoy a few drinks after class on Friday,” said Simon Sherry, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and co-author of the study. “This is not the way in which some students are drinking. These are two people who get together and alcohol is a central theme in how they spend time together and how they have fun together.”

While many students sober up after getting a degree, others grow addicted to alcohol and continue binge drinking well into adulthood. Therefore, it’s important to choose your company carefully, lest you end up with a serious alcohol problem.

“In some respect this is a cautionary piece of research,” Sherry said. “Pick your friends and lovers carefully because they influence you more than you think.”

Source: Dalhousie University

Photo: morgueFile

Tags: binge drinking, drinking and relationships, alcohol, dating and relationships
Categories: Dating stories | Stuff