Contextual Factors Related to Alcohol Abuse Among Intimate Partner Violence Offenders

Abstract

Background: The association between alcohol consumption and intimate partner violence (IPV) has been reiterated in numerous studies. Some authors have found higher levels of risk factors in intimate partner violence offenders (IPVOs) with alcohol problems than in IPVOs without such problems.

Objective: The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship of contextual variables with harmful alcohol use in a sample of IPVOs.

Method: This cross-sectional research analyzes data from 231 IPVOs. In addition to demographic data, information was collected on alcohol use, ethnicity, accumulation of stressful life events and perceived social support and rejection. The sample was divided into hazardous and nonhazardous alcohol users, according to the AUDIT test scale.

Results: No differences were found between groups on demographic variables. The results of a hierarchical logistic regression analysis supplemented with ROC curves revealed that Latin American immigrants as opposed to Spanish nationality, accumulating stressful life events, and perceiving low social support significantly increased the likelihood of alcohol abuse, with adequate predictive power.

Conclusion: Contextual variables such as ethnicity, accumulation of stressful life events, and lack of social support may explain harmful alcohol consumption. These variables should be taken into account in batterer intervention programs in order to reduce one of the most relevant risk factors of IPV: alcohol abuse.

Keywords: Alcohol abuse; Latin American culture; ethnicity; immigrants; intimate partner violence; offenders; social support; stress.