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Comparative Study
. 2011 May;26(8):1503-23.
doi: 10.1177/0886260510370596. Epub 2010 Jun 3.

Alcohol may not cause partner violence but it seems to make it worse: a cross national comparison of the relationship between alcohol and severity of partner violence

Kathryn Graham  1 , Sharon Bernards, Sharon C Wilsnack, Gerhard Gmel
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Alcohol may not cause partner violence but it seems to make it worse: a cross national comparison of the relationship between alcohol and severity of partner violence

Kathryn Graham et al. J Interpers Violence. 2011 May.

Abstract

This study assesses whether severity of physical partner aggression is associated with alcohol consumption at the time of the incident, and whether the relationship between drinking and aggression severity is the same for men and women and across different countries. National or large regional general population surveys were conducted in 13 countries as part of the GENACIS collaboration. Respondents described the most physically aggressive act done to them by a partner in the past 2 years, rated the severity of aggression on a scale of 1 to 10, and reported whether either partner had been drinking when the incident occurred. Severity ratings were significantly higher for incidents in which one or both partners had been drinking compared to incidents in which neither partner had been drinking. The relationship did not differ significantly for men and women or by country. We conclude that alcohol consumption may serve to potentiate violence when it occurs, and this pattern holds across a diverse set of cultures. Further research is needed that focuses explicitly on the nature of alcohol's contribution to intimate partner aggression. Prevention needs to address the possibility of enhanced dangers of intimate partner violence when the partners have been drinking and eliminate any systemic factors that permit alcohol to be used as an excuse. Clinical services for perpetrators and victims of partner violence need to address the role of drinking practices, including the dynamics and process of aggressive incidents that occur when one or both partners have been drinking.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of incidents of aggression by an intimate partner in which neither partner had been drinking, only the female partner, only the male partner or both partners had been drinking by gender of respondent and country
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average difference in severity ratings by female victims for aggression involving alcohol versus no alcohol (lines show 95% confidence intervals)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Average difference in severity ratings by male victims for aggression involving alcohol versus no alcohol (lines show 95% confidence intervals)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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