Bell Nicole S, Harford Thomas C, Fuchs Cara H, McCarroll James E, Schwartz Carolyn E
Social Sectors Development Strategies, Inc., Natick, Massachusetts, USA.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2006 Oct;30(10):1721-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2006.00214.x.
Prior studies suggest racial/ethnic differences in the associations between alcohol misuse and spouse abuse. Some studies indicate that drinking patterns are a stronger predictor of spouse abuse for African Americans but not whites or Hispanics, while others report that drinking patterns are a stronger predictor for whites than African Americans or Hispanics. This study extends prior work by exploring associations between heavy drinking, alcohol-related problems, and risk for spouse abuse within racial/ethnic groups as well as variations associated with whether the perpetrator is drinking during the spouse abuse incident.
Cases (N=7,996) were all active-duty male, enlisted Army spouse abusers identified in the Army's Central Registry (ACR) who had also completed an Army Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) Survey between 1991 and 1998. Controls (N=17,821) were matched on gender, rank, and marital and HRA status.
We found 3 different patterns of association between alcohol use and domestic violence depending upon both the race/ethnicity of the perpetrator and whether or not alcohol was involved in the spouse abuse event. First, after adjusting for demographic and psychosocial factors, weekly heavy drinking (>14 drinks per week) and alcohol-related problems (yes to 2 or more of 6 alcohol-related problem questions, including the CAGE) were significant predictors of domestic violence among whites and Hispanics only. Also for the white soldiers, the presence of family problems mediated the effect of alcohol-related problems on spouse abuse. Second, alcohol-related problems predicted drinking during a spouse abuse incident for all 3 race groups, but this relation was moderated by typical alcohol consumption patterns in Hispanics and whites only. Finally, alcohol-related problems predicted drinking during a spouse abuse incident, but this was a complex association moderated by different psychosocial or behavioral variables within each race/ethnic group.
These findings suggest important cultural/social influences that interact with drinking patterns.
先前的研究表明，在酒精滥用与配偶虐待之间的关联上存在种族/民族差异。一些研究表明，饮酒模式对非裔美国人的配偶虐待行为是更强的预测因素，而对白人或西班牙裔则不然；另一些研究则报告称，饮酒模式对白人的预测作用比对非裔美国人或西班牙裔更强。本研究通过探讨种族/民族群体中重度饮酒、酒精相关问题与配偶虐待风险之间的关联，以及与施暴者在配偶虐待事件中是否饮酒相关的差异，扩展了先前的研究工作。
病例（N = 7996）均为在陆军中央登记处（ACR）中被识别出的现役男性陆军配偶施暴者，他们还在1991年至1998年期间完成了陆军健康风险评估（HRA）调查。对照（N = 17821）在性别、军衔、婚姻状况和HRA状态方面进行了匹配。
我们发现，根据施暴者的种族/民族以及配偶虐待事件中是否涉及酒精，酒精使用与家庭暴力之间存在3种不同的关联模式。首先，在调整了人口统计学和心理社会因素后，每周重度饮酒（每周超过14杯）和酒精相关问题（对6个酒精相关问题中的2个或更多问题回答“是”，包括CAGE问题）仅在白人和西班牙裔中是家庭暴力的显著预测因素。同样对于白人士兵，家庭问题的存在介导了酒精相关问题对配偶虐待的影响。其次，酒精相关问题在所有3个种族群体中都能预测配偶虐待事件中的饮酒情况，但这种关系仅在西班牙裔和白人中受到典型饮酒模式的调节。最后，酒精相关问题能预测配偶虐待事件中的饮酒情况，但这是一种复杂的关联，在每个种族/民族群体中受到不同的心理社会或行为变量的调节。
这些发现表明了与饮酒模式相互作用的重要文化/社会影响。
