Substance use and intimate partner violence: A meta-analytic review.

Abstract

Objectives: This meta-analysis examines the strength of the link between substance use (e.g., alcohol use vs. drug use) and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization. Method: Data from 285 studies (yielding 983 effect sizes (ESs) and a combined sample size of 627,726) were analyzed using random effects. Moderator analyses compared the impact of overall substance abuse, alcohol use, and drug use on IPV perpetration and victimization for males and females. Results: Overall substance use, alcohol use, and drug use were significantly related to IPV perpetration and victimization, with mean ESs ranging from r ϭ .18 to .23. Results indicate that drug use is a significantly stronger correlate with victimization, compared with alcohol use. Problematic alcohol use measures (i.e., abuse, dependence, and drinking problems) were significantly stronger correlates than consumption measures (e.g., alcohol use or frequency) for IPV victimization, but statistically similar for IPV perpetration. Problematic drug use measures were significantly stronger correlates with perpetration than drug consumption measures. Surprisingly, there were no significant differences between the impact of different drug types, and no significant difference between the impact of stimulants versus nonstimulants on IPV perpetration and victimization. Conclusions: This study provides the most comprehensive analysis of the link between substance use and IPV to date. Even if certain drugs are regarded as a lower health risk, clinicians are encouraged to evaluate the impact on their clients' IPV. Future IPV researchers are encouraged to include specific drug types and frequencies of substance use.

[…] you feel there’s nowhere left to go: the barriers to support among women who experience substance use and domestic abuse in the UK

“…Studies from countries including, Australia, South Africa, Spain, Japan, the USA and Sweden have shown that DAV is a common experience among women with PSU (Ahmadabadi et al, 2019;Watt et al, 2017;Gilchrist et al, 2012;Yoshihama et al, 2010;Hughes et al, 2010;Stene et al, 2012). This was also identified in a meta-analysis by Cafferky et al, (2018) who analysed data from 285 international studies and found that substance use was significantly related to domestic abuse; with illicit drug use showing a stronger correlation to victimisation compared to alcohol. However, the analysis only focused on physical intimate partner violence (IPV), negating the link between PSU and non-physical forms of abuse.…”

“…However, these figures could be higher than indicated because the APMS, like Cafferky et al's (2018) international meta-analysis, did not account for non-physical forms of abuse. Second, data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (ONS, 2018) shows that of the 1.3 million women who experienced domestic abuse in the past year, 8.1% were under the influence of alcohol and 1.7% were under the influence of drugs during their most recent experience of abuse (ONS, 2018).…”

Alcohol use in family, domestic and other violence: Findings from a cross‐sectional survey of the Australian population

“…age, gender, socio‐economic status, illicit drug use ). However, meta‐analyses that control for such variables find the association between alcohol use and violence remains significant . A third view is that alcohol use increases aggression through pharmacological effects on executive functioning, such as disinhibition of aggressive impulses .…”

“…Meta‐analytic reviews of alcohol use in male‐to‐female and female‐to‐male IPV show evidence of small to moderate effects from alcohol use , similar in magnitude to that of childhood exposure to, or experience of, family violence . Cafferky et al conducted a meta‐analysis on the relationship between substance use and IPV perpetration and victimisation, and found small mean effect sizes for illicit drug use and perpetration ( r = 0.23), illicit drug use and victimisation ( r = 0.23), alcohol use and perpetration ( r = 0.20), and alcohol use and victimisation ( r = 0.17).…”

Interventions to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration by Men Who Use Substances: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Efficacy

“…Robust evidence supports an association between SU (i.e. alcohol and drug use) and IPV, with a consensus that SU can increase both the frequency and severity of violence (Cafferky et al, 2018;Leonard & Quigley, 2017). Findings have highlighted that rates of physical or sexual violence perpetration among men receiving treatment for SU are far higher than those within the general population O'Farrell et al, 2003;O'Farrell et al, 2004;Taft et al, 2010;Ten Have et al, 2014).…”