Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Changes in the Associations of Heavy Drinking and Drug Use with Intimate Partner Violence in Early Adulthood

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Family Violence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The hypothesis that the disinhibitory effects induced by alcohol consumption contribute to domestic violence has gained support from meta-analyses of mainly cross-sectional studies that examined the association between alcohol abuse and perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV). However, findings from multilevel analyses of longitudinal data investigating the time-varying effects of heavy episodic drinking (HED) on physical IPV have been equivocal. This 12-year prospective study used multilevel analysis to examine the effects of HED and illicit drug use on perpetration of both physical and psychological IPV during early adulthood. Participants were 157 romantic couples who were assessed biennially two to six times for substance misuse and IPV. The analyses found no significant main effect of either HED or drug use on perpetration of IPV but there were significant interactions of both HED and drug use with age. Moreover, the developmental trends in substance use effects on IPV typically varied by gender and type of IPV.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbey, A. (2002). Alcohol-related sexual assault: a common problem among college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 14(Suppl), 118–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV-TR (4th ed.). Washington DC: Author.

  • Arseneault, L., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Taylor, P. J., & Silva, P. A. (2000). Mental disorders and violence in a total birth cohort. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57, 979–986.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Atkins, D. C., & Gallop, R. J. (2007). Rethinking how family researchers model infrequent outcomes: a tutorial on count regression and zero-inflated models. Journal of Family Psychology, 21, 726–735.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brookoff, D., O’Brien, K. K., Cook, C. S., Thompson, T. D., & Williams, C. (1997). Characteristics of participants in domestic violence: assessment at the scene of domestic assaults. Journal of the American Medical Association, 277, 1369–1373.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bureau of Justice Statistics (1998). Alcohol and crime: An analysis of national data on the prevalence of alcohol involvement in crime (Report No. NCJ 168632). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

  • Capaldi, D. M., & Clark, S. (1998). Prospective family predictors of aggression toward female partners for at-risk young men. Developmental Psychology, 34, 1175–1188.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Capaldi, D. M., Knoble, N. B., Shortt, J. W., & Kim, H. K. (2012). A systematic review of risk factors for intimate partner violence. Partner Abuse, 3, 231–280.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chermack, S. T., & Taylor, S. P. (1995). Alcohol and human physical aggression: pharmacological versus expectancy effects. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 56, 449–456.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, P., Cohen, J., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral analysis (3rd ed.). Mahwah: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Critchlow, B. (1983). Blaming the booze: the attribution of responsibility for drunken behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 9, 451–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fals-Stewart, W., Klostermann, K., & Clinton-Sherrod, M. (2009). Substance abuse and intimate partner violence. In K. D. O’Leary & E. M. Woodin (Eds.), Psychological and physical aggression in couples: Causes and interventions (pp. 251–269). Washington: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Feingold, A. (2009). Effect sizes for growth-modeling analysis for controlled clinical trials in the same metric as for classical analysis. Psychological Methods, 14, 43–53.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feingold, A. (2013). A regression framework for effect size assessments in longitudinal modeling of group differences. Review of General Psychology, 17, 111–121.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feingold, A., & Capaldi, D. M. (2014). Associations of women’s substance dependency symptoms with intimate partner violence. Partner Abuse, 5, 152–167.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feingold, A., Kerr, D. C. R., & Capaldi, D. M. (2008). Associations of substance use problems with intimate partner violence for at-risk men in long-term relationships. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 429–438.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Flanzer, J. P. (2005). Alcohol and other drugs are key causal agents of violence. In D. R. Loseke, R. J. Gelles, & M. M. Cavanaugh (Eds.), Current controversies on family violence (pp. 163–189). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fleiss, J. L., & Berlin, J. A. (2009). Effect sizes for dichotomous data. In H. Cooper, L. V. Hedges, & J. C. Valentine (Eds.), The handbook of research synthesis (2nd ed., pp. 237–253). New York: Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foran, H. M., & O’Leary, K. D. (2008). Alcohol and intimate partner violence: a meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 1222–1234.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gelles, R. J., & Cavanaugh, M. M. (2005). Association is not causation: Alcohol and other drugs do not cause violence. In D. R. Loseke, R. J. Gelles, & M. M. Cavanaugh (Eds.), Current controversies on family violence (pp. 163–189). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giancola, P. R., Gadlaski, A. J., & Roth, R. M. (2012). Identifying component-processes of executive functioning that serve as risk factors for the alcohol-aggression relation. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26, 201–211.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haddock, C. K., Rindskopf, D., & Shadish, W. R. (1998). Using odds ratios as effect sizes for meta-analysis of dichotomous data: a primer on methods and issues. Psychological Methods, 3, 339–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, K. M. (2008). Heavy episodic drinking: determining the predictive utility of five or more drinks. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 22, 68–77.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman Kantor, G., & Straus, M. A. (1990). The “drunken bum” theory of wife beating. In M. A. Straus & R. J. Gelles (Eds.), Physical violence in American families: Risk factors and adaptations to violence in 8,145 families (pp. 203–224). New Brunswick: Transaction.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, H. K., Laurent, H. K., Capaldi, D. M., & Feingold, A. (2008). Men’s aggression toward women: a 10-year panel study. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70, 1169–1187.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leonard, K. E. (2005). Alcohol and intimate partner violence: when can we say that heavy drinking is a contributing cause of violence? Addiction, 100, 422–425.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leonard, K. E., & Quigley, B. M. (1999). Drinking and marital aggression in newlyweds: an event-based analysis of drinking and the occurrence of husband marital aggression. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67, 537–545.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald, T. K., Fong, G. T., Zanna, M. F., & Martineau, A. M. (2000). Alcohol myopia and condom use: can alcohol intoxication be associated with more prudent behavior? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 605–619.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mattson, R. E., O’Farrell, T. J., Lofgreen, A. M., Cunningham, K., & Murphy, C. M. (2012). The role of illicit substance use in a conceptual model of intimate partner violence. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26, 255–264.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, T. M., Stuart, G. L., Meehan, J. C., Rhatigan, D. L., Hellmuth, J. C., & Keen, S. M. (2008). Drug abuse and aggression between intimate partners: a meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 247–274.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, M. K., & Schafer, J. L. (2001). A two-part random-effects model for semicontinuous longitudinal data. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 96, 730–745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes, H. L. M., Foshee, V. A., Bauer, D. J., & Ennett, S. T. (2011). The role of heavy alcohol use in the developmental process of desistance in dating aggression during adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39, 239–250.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rothman, E. F., Reyes, L. M., Johnson, R. M., & LaValley, M. (2012). Does the alcohol make them do it? Dating violence perpetration and drinking among youth. Epidemiologic Reviews, 34, 103–119.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schumacher, J. A., Homish, G. G., Leonard, K. E., Quigley, B. M., & Kearns-Bodkin, J. N. (2008). Longitudinal moderators of the relationship between excessive drinking and intimate partner violence in the early years of marriage. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 894–904.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sher, K. J., Jackson, K. M., & Steinley, D. (2011). Alcohol use trajectories and the ubiquitous cat’s cradle: cause for concern? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120(2), 322–335.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shortt, J. W., Capaldi, D. M., Kim, H. K., Kerr, D. C. R., Owen, L. D., & Feingold, A. (2012). Stability of intimate partner violence by men across 12 years in young adulthood: effects of relationship transitions. Prevention Science, 13, 360–369.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P. H., Homish, G. G., Leonard, K. E., & Cornelius, J. R. (2012). Intimate partner violence and specific substance use disorders: findings from the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26, 236–245.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, C. M., & Joseph, R. A. (1990). Alcohol myopia: its prized and dangerous effects. American Psychologist, 45, 921–933.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Straus, M. A. (1979). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: the conflict tactics (CT) scales. Journal of Marriage and Family, 41, 75–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Boney-McCoy, S., & Sugarman, D. B. (1996). The revised conflict tactics scales (CTS2) development and preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, H., & Nelson, T. F. (2001). Binge drinking and the American college student: what’s five drinks? Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 15, 287–291.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Alan Feingold, Oregon Social Learning Center; Isaac J. Washburn, Oklahoma State University; Stacey S. Tiberio, Oregon Social Learning Center; Deborah M. Capaldi, Oregon Social Learning Center.

Research reported in this article was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health: National Institute of Drug Abuse (RC1DA028344), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA018669), and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD46364). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alan Feingold.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Feingold, A., Washburn, I.J., Tiberio, S.S. et al. Changes in the Associations of Heavy Drinking and Drug Use with Intimate Partner Violence in Early Adulthood. J Fam Viol 30, 27–34 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9658-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9658-6

Keywords

Navigation