Alcohol, Relationship Conflict, and Intimate Partner Violence

描述(由申请人提供)：尽管饮酒长期以来一直被认为是亲密伴侣暴力的风险因素，但很少有研究表明，严重饮酒是否会导致关系冲突或攻击行为的发生。这项拟议的研究将解决年轻已婚同居夫妇的社区样本中饮酒与关系攻击性之间的密切关系。提出了两种方法。首先，一项实验研究将考察酒精对冲突解决范式下的交流行为和言语攻击的影响，酒精对男性和女性伴侣独立使用。我们假设，任何一方饮酒都会增加行为上的负面情绪和言语攻击性。其次，每天的日记研究将允许我们检查在某一天发生关系冲突或攻击性行为的可能性是否会增加，无论是男性还是女性，或者双方都在当天早些时候饮酒。在为期8周的日记结束时进行的以事件为基础的深入访谈，将深入了解酒精如何可能有助于冲突的开始、升级和停止。这项研究有几个独特的方面。首先，虽然大多数研究都集中在男性饮酒在实施攻击性行为中的作用，但女性饮酒也可能导致关系冲突和攻击性。因此，我们将明确考虑女性饮酒在实验室内和自然发生的冲突事件中对关系冲突和攻击性的作用，而不是她们男性伴侣的饮酒。其次，这项日记研究有望首次在非临床样本中考察酒精与关系冲突之间的日常关系，并有望解决酒精在自然发生的关系冲突中的相对重要性。第三，认识到酒精可能不会促进所有夫妇的冲突或攻击性，两项研究都将考虑潜在的缓和变量的作用，包括攻击性倾向、行为自控力和饮酒预期。考虑到饮酒和关系冲突之间的密切关系，预计冲突将为了解酒精与亲密伴侣暴力关系背后的因果机制提供重要的见解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although alcohol consumption has long been recognized as a risk factor in intimate partner violence, few studies have addressed whether acute alcohol consumption is a causal factor in episodes of relationship conflict or aggression. The proposed research will address the proximal relationship between alcohol consumption and relationship aggression among a community sample of young married and cohabiting couples. Two methods are proposed. First, an experimental study will examine the effects of alcohol, administered independently to male and female partners, on communication behaviors and verbal aggression within a conflict resolution paradigm. We hypothesize that alcohol consumption by either partner will increase behavioral negativity and verbal aggression. Second, a daily diary study will allow us to examine whether the likelihood of relationship conflict or aggression occurring on a given day is increased when either the man, the woman, or both have consumed alcohol earlier that day. In-depth, event-based interviews, conducted at the conclusion of the 8-week diary period, will provide insight into how alcohol may contribute to the initiation, escalation, and desistance of conflict. There are several unique aspects to the research. First, although the majority of research has focused on the role of men's drinking in their perpetration of aggression, women's drinking may contribute to relationship conflict and aggression as well. Thus, we will explicitly consider the role of women's drinking, independent of the drinking of their male partners, on relationship conflict and aggression both within the laboratory and in naturally-occurring conflict episodes. Second, the diary study promises to be the first to examine daily relationship between alcohol and episodes of relationship conflict in a non-clinical sample and is expected to address the relative importance of alcohol in naturally occurring relationship conflict. Third, recognizing that alcohol may not facilitate conflict or aggression for all couples, both studies will consider the role of potential moderating variables, including propensity toward aggression, behavioral self-control, and alcohol expectancies. Considering the proximal relationship between alcohol consumption and relationship conflict is expected to provide important insight into the causal mechanisms underlying the alcohol-intimate partner violence relationship.