Intimate Partner Aggression During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Associations With Stress and Heavy Drinking.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to test empirically whether (1) the local impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increases in intimate partner aggression (IPA) and heavy drinking, and (2) heavy drinking moderated the association between COVID-19 stress and IPA perpetration.

METHOD

Participants were 510 individuals (approximately 50% who endorsed a sexual or gender minority identity) recruited via Qualtrics Research Services in April 2020, during the height of shelter-in-place (SiP) restrictions across the United States. They completed a questionnaire battery that included measures of COVID-19 stressors, physical and psychological IPA perpetration, and heavy drinking.

RESULTS

Rates of physical and psychological IPA perpetration significantly increased after implementation of SiP restrictions which aimed to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19. COVID-19 stress was significantly and positively associated with physical and psychological IPA perpetration; however, COVID-19 stress was positively associated with physical IPA perpetration among non-heavy drinking, but not heavy drinking, participants.

CONCLUSIONS

Drawn from a large sample of participants of diverse sexual identities, findings tentatively implicate COVID-19 stress as a critical correlate of IPA perpetration and suggest that "low risk" individuals (i.e., non-heavy drinkers) should not be overlooked. These data provide preliminary support for the usefulness of public health polices and individual-level interventions that target stress, heavy drinking, and their antecedents.