Do Income and Depressive Symptoms Moderate the Association between Alcohol Use and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration?

Intimate partner violence (IPV), including both psychological aggression and physical violence perpetrated by one partner in an intimate relationship against the other, is a major public health concern. IPV affects as many as one in four women and one in nine men in the United States each year and is associated with numerous negative consequences. Alcohol use is a contributing, yet neither a necessary nor a sufficient, cause of IPV perpetration. Thus, it is important to identify moderators that help explain under what circumstances alcohol use is associated with IPV perpetration. The goal of this study was to examine the association between alcohol use and IPV perpetration and whether this association differs as a function of income and depressive symptoms. Ninety-four men and women who belonged to 47 mixed-sex couples reported their alcohol use (Daily Drinking Questionnaire), household income, depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire), and psychological and physical IPV perpetration (Conflict Tactics Scale) via a cross-sectional online survey. Interaction analyses using the SPSS PROCESS macro indicated that the alcohol use X income interaction among women approached significance (B = 5.97, p = .05). For women with lower incomes, higher alcohol use was associated with lower IPV perpetration, whereas for women with higher incomes, higher alcohol use was associated with higher IPV perpetration. In addition, there was a statistically significant main effect of depressive symptoms among women, showing that higher depressive symptoms were associated with higher IPV perpetration (B = 1.37, p < .01). All other main and interaction effects were not statistically significant. These results suggest that for women, the association between alcohol use and IPV perpetration may depend on income, such that this association is positive when income is higher but negative when income is lower. It is possible that for lower-income women, alcohol use presents a distraction that helps women cope with financial adversity. Moreover, women with greater depressive symptoms may be at higher risk for IPV perpetration. Intervention efforts aimed at decreasing IPV should consider the interplay of alcohol use and financial and mental health stressors. Specifically, it may be valuable to help individuals, particularly women, identify coping strategies as healthy alternatives to alcohol use.