Objective: The purpose of this research was to describe women's consumption of alcoholic beverages as it related to their marital status over a 5-year period (1992 through 1996) and to study alcohol consumption around the time of marriage or divorce.
Method: The study sample comprised 4,782 women who worked for Electricité de France-Gaz de France and belonged to the GAZEL cohort. The relevant variables collected by five successive annual questionnaires included marital status and alcohol consumption characteristics. Marginal models were used, reflecting the fact that the data were not independent.
Results: Divorcees and widows drank less than married women as measured in fewer glasses per day and fewer days per week drinking wine. Women in the oldest generation drank more than the younger women. Getting married was accompanied by an increased level of drinking, especially of wine, beginning a year before the wedding and lasting until 4 years after it. Consumption declined briefly during the year after a divorce.
Conclusions: These results may be useful for designing prevention programs aimed at groups of women in the general population in France.