Since the Law of Divorce in Spain was approved, the number of
separations and divorces has increased considerably. One of the causes
of the marital rupture is the alcohol abuse or the illegal substances
consumption of one of the members of the couple. The objective of the
study is to examine the relationship between these addictive behaviours
and divorces in a sample of 50 couples, using a semistructured interview
that was applied to both spouses separately. The results of the study
show the lack of agreement between members of the couple for defining
the reasons of the rupture, as well as the women perception of a greater
prevalence of addictive behaviours among their partner than men. The
implications of the findings are discussed.