Key points

A range of substance use agreements are possible, including abstinence and substance-specific limits.

Some couples incorporate details about restrictions on the amount, timing, or motivation for substance use.

Details that increase the specificity of goals potentially enhance their impact on behavior.

My previous post on substance use agreements—the limits or rules couples develop related to the use of drugs or alcohol —summarized recent findings suggesting that couples who discuss substance use concerns and successfully agree on shared limits are more successful at regulating use. These findings came from our recent paper (Starks & Cain, 2025) published in Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice . In this post, we take a closer look at what Starks and Cain

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