Alcohol Use, Trait Anger, and Intimate Partner Violence in College Student Couples

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a significant public health problem, and risk for IPV is often highest among young adults. Numerous studies have found alcohol use to temporally precede and increase the risk for IPV perpetration. Trait anger is also associated with greater levels of physical, sexual, and psychological IPV perpetration. Daily diary research using one member of the dyad has found that alcohol is associated with increased physical IPV perpetration among men high, but not low, in levels of trait anger. However, IPV is a dyadic process that is impacted by the behavior of both partners, and little is known about whether alcohol use and trait anger may interact to predict IPV in couples. The present thesis utilized a sample of 181 couples between the ages of 18-25 years old to examine alcohol use/problems and trait anger as predictors of physical, sexual, and psychological IPV perpetration. Data were analyzed using an Actor-Partner Interdependence (APIM) framework, allowing for both actor and partner effects to be examined. Results indicated that actor trait anger was associated with increased levels of psychological IPV perpetration (B = 1.25, p \u3c .001). Both actor alcohol use/problems (ERR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.01 – 1.16) and actor trait anger (ERR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.17) were associated with increased physical IPV perpetration. A significant interaction (p \u3c .001) between partner alcohol use/problems and partner trait anger predicting sexual IPV perpetration indicated that at high levels of partner trait anger, partner alcohol use/problems were associated with lower levels of actor sexual IPV perpetration (ERR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.75 – 0.88). On the other hand, at low levels of partner trait anger, partner alcohol use/problems were associated with higher levels of actor sexual IPV perpetration (ERR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.02 – 1.15). Findings highlight the importance of targeting alcohol use/problems and trait anger to reduce IPV in young adults