The role of behavioral undercontrol in the relation between alcohol use and partner aggression *

Objective: Recent studies suggest that pre-existing aggressive personality traits moderate the relationship between alcohol use and intimate partner violence. The current study extends this literature by examining the relationship between behavioral undercontrol, patterns of alcohol use and relationship aggression in the context of a large, high-risk sample. Method: Participants were drawn from a cohort of 489 young adults taking part in an 11-year longitudinal study. Participants completed self-report measures of behavioral undercontrol, alcohol use and relationship aggression at Years 7 and 11 of the study when most were 25 and 29 years old, respectively. Results: Results revealed that a composite measure of behavioral undercontrol predicted relationship aggression cross-sectionally. Although the composite behavioral undercontrol measure did not interact with alcohol use to predict relationship aggression, one of the measures that comprised the composite (the Agreeableness scale from the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness to Experience Five Factor Inventory) did. Longitudinal analyses revealed that behavioral undercontrol measured at Year 7 did not predict relationship aggression measured at Year 11. Conclusions: Results suggest that behavioral undercontrol is related to relationship aggression outside the laboratory. Individuals with low levels of agreeableness also appear to be at heightened risk for intoxicated aggression. Potential explanations for these findings are discussed.
A GROWING BODY of literature suggests a positive relationship between alcohol consumption and relationship aggression. Alcohol use has been associated with dating violence (Makepeace, 1987), marital aggression (Heyman et al., [...]