in terms of moderate or severe violence, rather than
minor violence; and (d) substance abuse and IPV are
defined in terms of a broad time frame (e.g., lifetime)
rather than a narrow time frame (e.g., past year). The
association does not appear to be influenced by the
legal status of the intimate relationship (married vs.
cohabiting vs. dating), the sexual orientation of the inti-
mate partners (heterosexual vs. same sex), or the gen-
der of the perpetrator and victim.Explanations for the Association
Between Substance Abuse and IPV
There are several possible explanations for the
observed association between substance abuse and IPV.
First, the association may be false—the result of perpe-
trators attempting to avoid moral and legal culpability
by claiming that they were intoxicated at the time they
committed IPV. But the substance abuse/IPV associa-
tion is observed even in studies that relied solely on vic-
tims to provide information and even in studies where
substance abuse was measured months or even years
prior to the first occurrence of IPV.
Second, the association may be artifactual—the
result of some third factor that is causally related to both
substance abuse and IPV. Potential third factors could
include mental disorder in the perpetrator (e.g., antiso-
cial personality disorder or psychopathy) or severe con-
flict in the victim-perpetrator relationship (e.g., recent
separation or divorce). But studies that attempted to con-
trol for potential third factors have found that they
accounted for only a small part of the association.
Third, IPV may be a cause of (i.e., have a causal
influence on) substance abuse. Longitudinal research
supports this view, at least in part. People who experi-
ence IPV increase their use of alcohol or illegal drugs,
which in turn leads to increased risk for (repeated) IPV.
Fourth, substance abuse may be a cause of
IPV. The same longitudinal research that found that
IPV increases substance abuse has also found that
substance abuse increases risk for IPV, even when the
substance abuse came months or years before the IPV.
For example, substance abuse as a young adolescent
predicts IPV as a young adult, and premarital sub-
stance abuse predicts IPV after marriage. In addition,
treatment outcome research has found that reductions
in substance abuse are associated with subsequent
reductions in risk for IPV.
In summary, the association between substance abuse
and IPV appears to be bidirectional in nature: Substance
abuse is both a cause and a consequence of IPV. Withrespect to substance abuse as a cause of IPV, theory and
research suggest that several direct or proximal and indi-
rect or distal causal mechanisms may exist. Putative
direct mechanisms focus on the psychopharmacological
or psychological effects of substance abuse. Intoxication
and withdrawal may impair cognitive functions, leading
to reduced inhibitions against violence (e.g., underesti-
mation of negative consequences, overestimation of pos-
itive consequences, failure to consider alternatives to
violence) or misperception of social cues (e.g., misattri-
bution of hostile intent in others). Putative indirect mech-
anisms focus on the destabilizing effects of substance
abuse on social adjustment. For example, the short- and
long-term consequences of substance abuse—such as
problems with employment, finances, health, and family
arguments about drinking patterns or the consequence of
drinking on employment, finances, and relationships
with family or friends—cause conflict between partners
in intimate relationships, which in turn increases the risk
that IPV will occur. Similarly, the consequence of sub-
stance abuse may impair one partner’s ability to cope
with conflictual or aggressive behavior by the other part-
ner (through the use of strategies such as de-escalation,
deterrence, or escape), thus increasing vulnerability to
victimization and, ultimately, the risk that IPV will occur.Implications for
Research and Practice
It is clear that substance abuse is neither a necessary
nor a sufficient causal factor for IPV but rather one of
many contributory causal factors. Currently,
researchers are trying to further understand the vari-
ous causal mechanisms that may exist and how sub-
stance abuse interacts with other causal risk factors to
cause IPV.
Professionals who work in the field of IPV need to be
aware that substance abuse increases risk for IPV, and
treating substance abuse mitigates risk. For these
reasons, substance abuse is included as a risk factor
in several IPV risk assessment procedures, including
the Danger Assessment Instrument (DA) and the
Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA) Guide, and
many intervention programs for perpetrators and vic-
tims of IPV focus in part on decreasing substance abuse.
The challenge for professionals is to determine what
role substance abuse plays (i.e., which causal mecha-
nisms are relevant) in a given case and then deliver
appropriate services.Stephen D. Hart774 ———Substance Abuse and Intimate Partner ViolenceS-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:44 PM Page 774