(PS8-76) Alcohol Use, Relationship Satisfaction, and Couple Distress: Contextualizing the Role of Traumatic Stress in Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Among Couples

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent public health concern, where an estimated one in five homicide victims in the United States are killed by an intimate partner. Although the etiology of IPV is multifactorial, individual, and couple-level risk factors contributing to IPV are well-established. Specifically, ample research suggests that heavy drinking reported by one or both partners is associated with higher likelihood of relationship conflict and IPV perpetration for those in romantic relationships. At the couple level, relationship distress and dissatisfaction are also associated with IPV perpetration. More broadly, traumatic stress has also been identified as conferring significant risk for IPV perpetration; however, one’s proclivity for perpetrating IPV may vary based on the presentation of specific traumatic stress symptoms. It is also crucial to understand how specific clusters of traumatic stress symptoms interact with other established IPV risk factors, such as alcohol use, relationship satisfaction, and couple distress in predicting IPV perpetration. Therefore, the present study examined the confluence of alcohol use, relationship satisfaction, couple distress, and traumatic stress symptom clusters (i.e., hyperarousal, reexperiencing, avoidance/numbing, and negative alterations in mood and cognition) on IPV perpetration among a high-risk community sample of heavy drinking adult couples.

Methods: As part of a larger investigation on the effects of acute alcohol intoxication on IPV perpetration, participants included N = 666 participants (n = 336 cisgender heterosexual women; n = 330 cisgender heterosexual men), with a mean age of 28.42 years (SD = 8.38), all currently in romantic relationships where one partner within the dyad reported past-month heavy episodic drinking and past-year IPV perpetration.

Results: A simultaneous linear regression analysis was conducted. Results indicated that the overall model was significant (R² = .209, p < .001). Alcohol use (p = .002), couple distress (p = .007), relationship satisfaction (p < .001), re-experiencing symptoms (p = .030), and hyperarousal symptoms (p = .048) all significantly predicted IPV perpetration. Negative cognitions (p = .790) and avoidance/numbing symptoms (p = .280) were not significantly associated with IPV perpetration.

Conclusion: Findings from the present study are consistent with previous literature that suggests both reexperiencing and hyperarousal symptoms are stronger predictors of IPV perpetration in couples relative to avoidance/numbing and negative cognition symptoms. Findings from the present study also highlight the importance of examining the confluence of relationship-level variables, alcohol use, and traumatic stress symptoms to predict IPV perpetration more parsimoniously among high-risk couples. These findings offer valuable insights for designing interventions aimed at addressing IPV by identifying specific targets for intervention efforts.