Citation

Wells S, Graham K, Speechley M, Koval JJ. Addict. Behav. 2005; 31(4): 661-675.

Affiliation

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Western Ontario, Canada; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 100 Collip Circle, Suite 200, London, ON, Canada, N6G 4X8.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.05.046

PMID

15975731

Abstract

The present study examined whether predisposing and family background characteristics confounded (common cause/general deviance theory) or modified (conditional/interactive theory) the association between drinking frequency and alcohol-related aggression. A secondary analysis of the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth was conducted using a composite sample of drinkers, ages 17 to 21, from the 1994, 1996, and 1998 Young Adult surveys (n=602). No evidence of confounding of the relationship between drinking frequency and alcohol-related aggression was found. In addition, predisposing characteristics did not modify the association between drinking frequency and alcohol-related aggression. However, family background variables (mother's education and any poverty) were important explanatory variables for alcohol-related aggression among males, whereas recent aggression (fights at school or work) was an important predictor for females. Overall, lack of support for the conditional/interactive and common cause theories of the alcohol and aggression relationship suggests that alcohol has an independent explanatory role in alcohol-related aggression. In addition, the gender differences found in the present study highlight the need for more gender-focussed research on predictors of alcohol-related aggression, especially among adolescents and young adults.