Predictors of injurious assault committed during or after drinking alcohol: a case–control study of young offenders

Abstract

Studies of causal links between alcohol and aggression are often handicapped by threats to internal and external validity. Case-control methods employ an event-level analysis that can reduce some of these validity threats by the use of within-subject controls. This study used a case-control approach, asking 39 male inmates in a Young Offenders' Institution to compare drinking behaviour before incidents where they reported commission of an injurious assault and a matched incident where they did not. After controlling contextual differences, participants reported personally drinking more heavily and heavier drinking within their group, but not being more impaired when an assault was committed. The assault incidents were more likely to involve spontaneous, rather than planned, drinking and a higher proportion of males in the group. They were less likely to involve drinking in a pub. Our confirmation of previous findings using a case-control methodology strengthens those findings. Limitations of this methodology are also discussed.

Sex differences in aggressive incidents towards staff in secure services

“…It is unclear how the social dynamics of aggression may operate on mixed wards, although there is some evidence that the presence of females in a social group may inhibit male aggression (Navis, Brown, & Heim, 2007). Another limitation is that we did not investigate the context of specific incidents.…”

[Commentary] DOES IT MATTER WHERE THE DRINKING IS, WHEN THE OBJECT IS GETTING DRUNK?

“…However, Partanen [2] found, comparing the same individual's drinking occasions lasting 2 hours or more at home and on-premises, that Helsinki respondents drank about the same amount in the two contexts, but did it over a longer period of time at home, resulting in less intoxication. A recent British casecontrol study of young offenders found that the respondent having assaulted someone was associated with going out to a nightclub (not quite significant), associated negatively with going to a pub, and showed no association with other incident contexts [3]. Inspection of the data shows that, combining the results for pubs and nightclubs, there is no significant difference between on-premise and off-premise results.…”

“…In assuming that the point is to compare on-and offpremise drinking, Room and Livingston cite Partanen's study [3] comparing home drinking to on-premise drinking among Helsinki respondents in the early 1970s as evidence that home drinking may be less likely to result in intoxication. However, home drinking occasions among all age drinkers in the 1970s cannot be equated with contemporary pre-drinking practices of young people.…”

Implicit alcohol‐aggression scripts and alcohol‐related aggression on a laboratory task in 11‐ to 14‐year‐old adolescents

“…Interpersonal violence is one of the primary causes of morbidity and mortality in young people [Potenza et al, 2004]. Observational studies and surveys suggest that violence among young people is associated with their alcohol use [Graham et al, 2006;Navis et al, 2008], while causal links are suggested by placebo-controlled studies showing that alcohol ingestion leads to aggression in laboratory tasks [Bushman, 1993]. Further, the mere presentation of alcohol-related stimuli causes laboratory aggression [Bartholow and Heinz, 2006;Friedman et al, 2007], emphasizing the role of personal beliefs about alcohol and its effects.…”

“…Interpersonal violence is one of the primary causes of morbidity and mortality in young people (Potenza, Hoyt, Coimbra, et al, 2004). Much violent crime in young people is related to alcohol misuse (Graham, Bernards, Osgood, Wells, 2006;Navis, Brown & Heim, 2008). Causal links are suggested by placebo-controlled studies showing that alcohol ingestion leads to aggression in laboratory tasks (Bushman, 1993).…”