May 28, 2004

Marital Status and Substance

Use among Women
T
he National Survey on Drug Use and
In Brief Health (NSDUH) asks persons aged 12
or older to report their tobacco, alcohol,
● In 2002, almost 58 percent of or illicit drug use during the month prior to the
women aged 21 to 49 (nearly interview. Tobacco products include cigarettes,
35 million) were currently cigars, smokeless tobacco (i.e., chewing tobacco
married or snuff), and pipe tobacco. Binge alcohol use is
defined as drinking five or more drinks on the
● Married women aged 21 to 49 same occasion (i.e., at the same time or within a
were less likely to have used couple hours of each other) on at least 1 day in
tobacco, engaged in binge the past 30 days.1 Any illicit drug refers to
alcohol use, or used an illicit marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack),
drug in the past month inhalants, hallucinogens, heroin, or prescription-
type drugs used nonmedically. Respondents also
compared with women aged
were asked to report their current marital status.2
21 to 49 who were divorced or In addition, respondents were asked about the
separated, never married, or number of persons who live in the home and
living with an unmarried partner how the respondent was related to each person.3,4
This report focuses on women aged 21 to 49.
● Among married women aged
21 to 49, those with children
younger than 18 living in the Marital Status among Women
home were less likely to have In 2002, almost 58 percent of women aged 21
used tobacco, engaged in to 49 (nearly 35 million) were currently married.
binge alcohol use, or used any Almost 20 percent had never been married; 13
illicit drug in the past month percent were divorced or separated; 9 percent
than those with no child living were living as married with an unmarried
in the home partner; and less than 1 percent of women aged
21 to 49 were widowed. The majority of

The NSDUH Report (formerly The NHSDA Report) is published periodically by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA). All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission
from SAMHSA. Additional copies of this report or other reports from the Office of Applied Studies are available on-line:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov. Citation of the source is appreciated.
NSDUH REPORT: MARITAL STATUS AND SUBSTANCE USE AMONG WOMEN
Figure 1. Percentages of Women Aged 21 to 49
Reporting Marital Status, by Age Group: 2002
100%
9.4
14.8
80% 22.8
9.8
60% 52.0
40%
3.3
57.7
20%
29.7
0%
21 to 25 26 to 34
Married Divorced or Separated
Never Married Living with an Unmarried Partner
women aged 21 to 25 were never mar-
ried (52 percent) or married (30 per-
cent) (Figure 1). Most women aged 26
to 34 (58 percent) or 35 to 49 (66 per-
cent) were married. Because the distri-
bution of marital status varies by age
group, this report presents substance
use by marital status controlling for age.
Substance Use among
Women
Among women aged 21 to 49, the rates
of past month substance use were lower
among married women compared
with women who were divorced or
separated, never married, or living
with an unmarried partner. Rates of
past month tobacco and illicit drug use
were higher among women living with
an unmarried partner than among
women from other marital status
groups.
In general, among women aged 21
to 49, rates of past month substance
use were lower among those who were
married compared with those who
were divorced or separated, never
married, or living with an unmarried
partner. For example, among women
aged 21 to 25, past month binge alco-
Figure 2. Percentages of Women Aged 21 to 25
Reporting Past Month Substance Use, by Marital
Status: 2002
6.6 58.5
60%
9.2
51.0
16.9 50%
40.4
40%
29.2
30%
65.8
20%
10%
35 to 49
0%
Tobacco
Use
hol use was 19 percent among married
women, 27 percent among divorced
or separated women, 40 percent
among women who had never been
married, and 35 percent among
women living with an unmarried part-
ner (Figure 2). In general, among
women aged 26 to 34, those living with
an unmarried partner had higher rates
of past month substance use compared
with those who were married, divorced
or separated, or never married (Figure
3). Among women aged 35 to 49,
those living with an unmarried partner
were more likely to have used tobacco
or engaged in binge alcohol use in the
past month than those who were mar-
ried, divorced or separated, or never
married (Figure 4).
Children Living in the Home
Among married women aged 21 to 49,
73 percent (over 25 million) had at
least one child younger than 18 living
in their home. Among women aged 21
to 49, 63 percent of women who were
divorced or separated, almost 44 per-
cent of women who were living with an
unmarried partner, and 27 percent of
women who had never been married
May 28, 2004
Married
Divorced or Separated
Never Married
Living with an
Unmarried Partner
40.1
34.8
27.3
21.4
19.3
17.5
14.8
7.2
Binge Alcohol Any Illicit Drug
Use Use
lived with at least one child younger
than 18.
Among married women aged 21 to
49, those with children younger than
18 living in the home were less likely to
have used tobacco, engaged in binge
alcohol use, or used an illicit drug in
the past month (Figure 5) than those
with no child living in the home.5
Among women aged 21 to 49 who
were divorced or separated, or living
with an unmarried partner, rates of
past month substance use were similar
among those with children aged 18 or
younger living in the home and those
with no child living in the home. Wom-
en aged 21 to 49 who had never mar-
ried and who had children younger
than 18 living in the home (41 percent)
were more likely to have used tobacco
in the past month than those with no
child living in the home (34 percent).
End Notes
1. A “drink” is defined as a can or bottle of beer,
a glass of wine or a wine cooler, a shot of
liquor, or a mixed drink containing liquor.
2. Current marital status response options were
(a) married, (b) widowed, (c) divorced or
separated, and (d) have never married. For
this report, estimates for widowed women are
not shown due to small sample size.
May 28, 2004 NSDUH REPORT: MARITAL STATUS AND SUBSTANCE USE AMONG WOMEN

Figure 3. Percentages of Women Aged 26 to 34 Figure 4. Percentages of Women Aged 35 to 49

Reporting Past Month Substance Use, by Marital Reporting Past Month Substance Use, by Marital
Status: 2002 Status: 2002

Married Married
60% Divorced or Separated 60% Divorced or Separated
Never Married 53.5 Never Married
Living with an Living with an
50% 46.9 50%
Unmarried Partner Unmarried Partner
42.8
38.8
40% 40%
34.1 35.1
32.3
28.327.0 29.3
30% 30%
23.5 22.9
21.2 20.5
20% 16.3 20%
14.6 14.7 13.3
9.5 9.6 9.2
10% 10% 6.8
5.0 4.1

0% 0%
Tobacco Binge Alcohol Any Illicit Drug Tobacco Binge Alcohol Any Illicit Drug
Use Use Use Use Use Use

Figure 5. Percentages of Married Women Aged 21 to The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is an annual survey
sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
49 Reporting Past Month Substance Use, by Whether
Administration (SAMHSA). Prior to 2002, this survey was called the
at Least One Child Younger Than Age 18 Lived in National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). The 2002 data are
Their Home: 2002 based on information obtained from 68,126 persons aged 12 or older,
including 16,010 women aged 21 to 49. The survey collects data by
Child Living in Home administering questionnaires to a representative sample of the population
30% No Child Living in Home
through face-to-face interviews at their place of residence.

25.8 The NSDUH Report is prepared by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS),
SAMHSA, and by RTI International in Research Triangle Park, North
22.8 Carolina (RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute).
Information and data for this report are based on the following publication
and statistics:
20%
16.6 Office of Applied Studies. (2003). Results from the 2002 National Survey
on Drug Use and Health: National findings (DHHS Publication No. SMA 03-
14.5 3836, NHSDA Series H-22). Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration.
Also available online: http://www.oas.samhsa.gov.
10%
Because of improvements and modifications to the 2002 NSDUH, esti-
6.2 mates from the 2002 survey should not be compared with estimates from
the 2001 or earlier versions of the survey to examine changes over time.
4.0
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration
Office of Applied Studies
0% www.samsha.gov

Tobacco Binge Alcohol Any Illicit Drug

Use Use Use

3. Respondents could indicate whether they were living as married with an
unmarried partner. For the purposes of this report, respondents who
indicated they were living with an unmarried partner were classified as such,
regardless of their reported marital status. This resulted in five mutually
exclusive categories: (a) married, (b) widowed, (c) divorced or separated, (d)
never married, and (e) living with an unmarried partner.
4. Respondents are considered to have children living in the home if they
indicate that at least one of the members in their household is their son or
daughter. This could be a biological, step, adopted, or foster child. This
report focused on women aged 21 to 49 with children younger than age 18
living in the home. In 2002, 93 percent of women living with a child younger
than age 18 were aged 21 to 49.
5. The differences were significant at p<0.05 for past month tobacco and illicit
drug use, but p=0.0734 for binge alcohol use.
Figure Note
Figure 1: Percentages for each age category in Figure 1 do not add to 100% as
a result of the exclusion of widowed women due to small sample size.
Percentages of widowed women in each age category were 0.1 percent in
women aged 21 to 25, 0.3 percent in women aged 26 to 34, and 1.5 percent
in women aged 35 to 49.