Alcohol-related Aggression Research Articles

The Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex on Reactive Aggression in Intoxicated and Sober Individuals

Alcohol-related aggression is a widely observed phenomenon that has detrimental effects on both individuals and society, putatively caused by dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) plays a critical role in representing the reward value of future actions. Emerging research has suggested that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the vmPFC can reduce aggression. However, no study has examined whether tDCS can mitigate intoxicated aggression. In this study, 153 healthy participants consumed alcohol or not and completed the anger-infused Ultimatum Game with simultaneous double-blind anodal tDCS or sham over the bilateral vmPFC. For participants in the anodal tDCS condition, intoxicated participants were less aggressive than sober participants when insulted. However, among sober participants, anodal tDCS increased aggression. For participants in the alcohol condition, we observed no differences in aggression between the anodal tDCS and the sham tDCS conditions. These findings provide mixed support for tDCS as a means to attenuate intoxicated aggression.

Genetic risk for trait aggression and alcohol use predict unique facets of alcohol-related aggression.

A propensity for aggression or alcohol use may be associated with alcohol-related aggression. Previous research has shown genetic overlap between alcohol use and aggression but has not looked at how alcohol-related aggression may be uniquely influenced by genetic risk for aggression or alcohol use. The present study examined the associations of genetic risk for trait aggression, alcohol use, and alcohol use disorder (AUD) with alcohol-related aggression using a polygenic risk score (PRS) approach. Using genome-wide association study summary statistics, PRSs were created for trait aggression, alcohol consumption, and AUD. These PRSs were used to predict the phenotype of alcohol-related aggression among drinkers in two independent samples: the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) Family Alcoholism Study (n = 1,162) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health; n = 4,291). There were significant associations between the AUD PRS and lifetime alcohol-related aggression in the UCSF study sample. Additionally, the trait aggression PRS was associated with three or more experiences of hitting anyone else and getting into physical fights while under the influence of alcohol, along with a composite score of three or more experiences of alcohol-related aggression, in the UCSF study sample. No significant associations were observed in the Add Health sample. Limited sex-specific genetic effects were observed. These results provide preliminary evidence that genetic influences underlying alcohol use and aggression are uniquely associated with alcohol-related aggression and suggest that these associations may differ by type and frequency of alcohol-related aggression incidents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Would you let this guy into a bar? Identifying cues that signal a perceived increase in the propensity for violence of potential bar patrons

Abstract Objectives Bars, pubs, and clubs are hotspots for alcohol-related aggression. Consequently, admittance decisions made by security personnel have important implications for the safety inside these venues. However, the cues used by security personnel to determine the potential for intoxicated violence and inform admittance decisions vary substantially. Methods Here, we manipulate theoretically and practically relevant cues to determine the effects of their utilization on perceptions of violence and admittance decisions. Participants viewed images of real inmates convicted of violent or non-violent crimes, accompanied by cues derived from interviews with security staff. Results We found that body tenseness, drug and alcohol intoxication, searching behavior, avoidant behavior, and neck and face tattoos were positively associated with a greater perceived likelihood of violence. Admittance decisions mirrored these findings. Students and security personnel differed in their utilization of some of the cues. Conclusions To our knowledge, the current research was the first to take a quantitative approach to understanding the cues that security personnel and young adults might use to identify potentially violent patrons. These finding may help inform training for security personnel.

Country-Level Heavy Episodic Drinking and Individual-Level Experiences of Harm from Others’ Drinking-Related Aggression in 19 European Countries

Introduction: There is limited knowledge about how individual experiences of harm from others’ drinking are influenced by heavy episodic drinking (HED) at the country level. The present study aimed to assess (1) the association between the country-level prevalence of HED and the risk of experiencing harm from others’ drinking-related aggression and (2) if HED at the country level modifies the association between consumption of alcohol per capita (APC) and such harm. Methods: Outcome data from 32,576 participants from 19 European countries stem from the RARHA SEAS study. Self-reported harm from others’ drinking included having been verbally abused, harmed physically, or having serious arguments. Data on country-level drinking patterns were derived from the World Health Organization. Associations between country-level prevalence of monthly HED and experiences of aggression (at least 1 of 3 studied harms) were derived through multilevel models – adjusted for country-level age structure and by including the respondent’s own HED patterns as a mediator. Results: A 1% increase in the prevalence of monthly HED was associated with 5% higher odds (odds ratio [OR] 1.05) of experiencing others’ alcohol-related aggression among men, and 6% (OR 1.06) among women. The results suggest that the association between APC and harm was stronger in countries with high prevalences of HED, but the modifying effect could not be confirmed. Discussion/Conclusion: Harm from others’ drinking-related aggression depends not only on individual factors but is also influenced by the drinking patterns of the population. However, the country-level prevalence of HED only explains a small part of the variance of this type of harm.

(Un)Conditional Love in the Time of Conditional Cash Transfers: The Effect of the Peruvian JUNTOS Program on Spousal Abuse

Cash transfer programs often target women as the recipient of the money. Unintentionally, this flow of unearned income may reduce spousal abuse. We investigate this possibility by assessing the Peruvian JUNTOS program. We exploit the staggered timing in the rollout of the program across municipalities along with its eligibility rule for determining participation to perform a difference-in-differences analysis. Using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys, we find that JUNTOS reduced the prevalence of physical intimate partner violence by 25%–30%. Further analysis indicates that reductions in frequent alcohol consumption and alcohol-related aggression from male partners are behind this result.

Millennials, Manliness, and Mental Health: What Needs to Change?

Millennials, Manliness, and Mental Health: What Needs to Change?

The Role of Trait Impulsivity in the Associations between Rumination and Alcohol-Related Outcomes

Background/Purpose: Emerging adults engage in high rates of alcohol consumption, which contribute to negative alcohol-related consequences and alcohol-related aggression. Rumination, or repetitive thinking about negative experiences, predicts greater negative alcohol-related consequences and alcohol-related aggression. Mechanisms of these associations are not well understood. We examined whether impulsivity mediates the effect of rumination on alcohol-related outcomes. We also tested an alternative model in which impulsivity moderates the effect of rumination on these outcomes. Methods: In a cross-sectional study with 202 undergraduates, we assessed trait rumination, four facets of impulsivity (urgency, premeditation, perseverance, and sensation seeking), recent alcohol use, negative alcohol-related consequences, and alcohol-related aggression. Results: Mediational analyses revealed that rumination indirectly predicted greater negative alcohol-related consequences and alcohol-related aggression via more urgency. Moderational analyses yielded nonsignificant interactions. Conclusion: Although cross-sectional data cannot suggest causality, the pattern of correlations suggests that rumination may lead to more clinically relevant alcohol-related outcomes because it triggers rash responding to negative affect.

Alcohol Provoked Father-Son Assault: A Case Report from Nepal

Although a causal relationship between alcohol and violence is established, the actual number of alcohol related violence are seldom reported. Consumption of alcohol is part of ritual or ceremony in indigenous communities in Nepal. However, alcohol related domestic violence are rarity in Nepalese scenario. This may be because alcohol related domestic assaults and violence are usually 'secreted' and seldom published. We present a case of father-son alcohol related aggression for its unusualness of site and pattern.

Alcohol-Related, Drug-Related, and Non-Substance-Related Aggression: 3 Facets of a Single Construct or 3 Distinct Constructs?

Aggression often occurs alongside alcohol and drug misuse. However, it is not clear whether the latent and manifest relations among alcohol-related, drug-related, and non-substance-related aggression are separate manifestations of a single construct or instead are 3 distinct constructs. To examine these associations, we conducted a preregistered analysis of 13,490 participants in the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism. In a structured interview, participants reported their lifetime perpetration of these 3 aggression phenotypes. The data were better fit by a model that treated these aggression phenotypes as 3 distinct latent factors, as compared to models in which the items all loaded onto 1 ("general") or 2 ("substance-related" and "non-substance-related") aggression factors. This 3-factor model fit better for men than women. Subsequent exploratory analyses then showed that among these 3 factors, alcohol-related aggression explained the variance of overall aggression better than the other 2 factors. Our findings suggest that these 3 forms of aggression are distinct phenotypes (especially among men). Yet, people's alcohol-related aggression can accurately characterize their overall aggressive tendencies across these domains. Future research will benefit from articulating the unique and shared pathways and risk factors underlying each of these facets of aggression.

Drink, Don't Think: The Role of Masculinity and Thought Suppression in Men's Alcohol-Related Aggression.

Alcohol consumption is a well-established risk factor for aggressive behavior. However, evidence suggests that alcohol's effect on aggression varies as a function of individual- and situational-based instigating and inhibiting factors. Endorsement of traditional masculine gender norms has been consistently identified as an instigating factor for alcohol-related aggression. Likewise, individuals who habitually engage in thought suppression (i.e., the attempt to inhibit the occurrence of unwanted thoughts) have been shown to be at increased risk for behavioral disinhibition and aggression. In the present study, we test the hypothesis that thought suppression mediates the association between masculine norms and alcohol-related aggression. Two hundred forty-five men with a history of recent heavy episodic alcohol use completed surveys assessing their endorsement of traditional masculine norms, use of thought suppression, and both trait and alcohol-related aggression. Results indicated that thought suppression fully mediated the association between the toughness masculine norm and alcohol-related aggression. In addition, thought suppression partially mediated the association between the toughness norm and trait aggression. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential utility of cognitive-emotion regulation and norm-based interventions for reducing alcohol-related aggression.

Effects of acute alcohol consumption on emotion recognition in social alcohol drinkers.

Background:Research suggests that acute alcohol consumption alters recognition of emotional expressions. Extending this work, we investigated the effects of alcohol on recognition of six primary expressions of emotion.Methods:We conducted two studies using a 2 × 6 experimental design with a between-subjects factor of drink (alcohol, placebo) and a within-subjects factor of emotion (anger, disgust, sadness, surprise, happiness, fear). Study one (n = 110) was followed by a direct replication study (n = 192). Participants completed a six alternative forced choice emotion recognition task following consumption of 0.4 g/kg alcohol or placebo. Dependent variables were recognition accuracy (i.e. hits) and false alarms.Results:There was no clear evidence of differences in recognition accuracy between groups (ps > .58). In study one, there were more false alarms for anger in the alcohol compared to placebo group (n = 52 and 56, respectively; t(94.6) = 2.26, p = .024, d = .44) and fewer false alarms for happiness (t(106) = –2.42, p = .017, d = –.47). However, no clear evidence for these effects was found in study two (alcohol group n = 96, placebo group n = 93, ps > .22). When the data were combined we observed weak evidence of an effect of alcohol on false alarms of anger (t(295) = 2.25, p = .025, d = .26).Conclusions:These studies find weak support for biased anger perception following acute alcohol consumption in social consumers, which could have implications for alcohol-related aggression. Future research should investigate the robustness of this effect, particularly in individuals high in trait aggression.

Alcohol use moderates the relationship between symptoms of mental illness and aggression.

Diagnosis of mental illness (MI) inconsistently predicts aggressive behavior although co-occurrence of substance use appears to increase the frequency of aggression in MI populations. We propose that alcohol use should moderate the relationship between mental disorders marked by deficits in self-control and aggression and victimization. In the present study, alcohol use, physical aggression perpetration, physical aggression victimization, injury and psychiatric symptoms were assessed in a sample of 297 substance use disorder patients (102 women; Mage = 38.9, SD = 20.2) recruited from a residential treatment facility. Negative binomial regression analyses examined the relationship of physical aggression, victimization, and injury over the previous 12 months to symptoms of bipolar mania, psychosis, posttraumatic stress disorder, antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), and daily volume of alcohol consumed. Consistent with past research relating MI to aggression, rates of victimization were higher than rates of perpetration. Results demonstrated that alcohol use moderated the relationship of manic symptoms of bipolar disorder to perpetration of aggression and causing injury to others. Three way-interactions between gender, alcohol use, and both psychotic and ASPD symptoms were related to victimization. The combination of heavy alcohol use and increased psychotic or ASPD symptoms was related to greater victimization for women but not for men. Women with more psychotic symptoms who were heavy drinkers were also more likely to report causing injury to another person. Results were generally consistent with the multiple-thresholds model of alcohol-related aggression; however, the moderating effects of alcohol use were dependent on gender and type MI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Aggression in Women: Behavior, Brain and Hormones.

We review the literature on aggression in women with an emphasis on laboratory experimentation and hormonal and brain mechanisms. Women tend to engage in more indirect forms of aggression (e.g., spreading rumors) than other types of aggression. In laboratory studies, women are less aggressive than men, but provocation attenuates this difference. In the real world, women are just as likely to aggress against their romantic partner as men are, but men cause more serious physical and psychological harm. A very small minority of women are also sexually violent. Women are susceptible to alcohol-related aggression, but this type of aggression may be limited to women high in trait aggression. Fear of being harmed is a robust inhibitor of direct aggression in women. There are too few studies and most are underpowered to detect unique neural mechanisms associated with aggression in women. Testosterone shows the same small, positive relationship with aggression in women as in men. The role of cortisol is unclear, although some evidence suggests that women who are high in testosterone and low in cortisol show heightened aggression. Under some circumstances, oxytocin may increase aggression by enhancing reactivity to provocation and simultaneously lowering perceptions of danger that normally inhibit many women from retaliating. There is some evidence that high levels of estradiol and progesterone are associated with low levels of aggression. We highlight that more gender-specific theory-driven hypothesis testing is needed with larger samples of women and aggression paradigms relevant to women.

Harm from others’ drinking-related aggression, violence and misconduct in five Asian countries and the implications

BackgroundHarm from alcohol-attributable aggression and violence is linked to diminished personal safety and reduced physical and mental health and wellbeing in many countries. But there has been limited evidence on these harms in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study measured harm from others’ drinking-related aggression, violence and misconduct in five Asian LMICs (Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, and Lao PDR), aiming to compare the magnitude and pattern of harm across countries by gender, age group, educational level, rurality, and country-level indicators. MethodsData from 9832 respondents from the WHO/Thai Health International Collaborative Research Project on the Harm from Others’ Drinking undertaken between 2012 and 2014 were analysed. Findings50–73% of respondents from five countries reported being harmed at least once in the past year. Public disorder and feeling unsafe due to someone else’s drinking was frequently reported, followed by harassment, assaults and threats, traffic harm, and property damage. In most countries, men were more likely than women to report traffic harms, property harm, and assaults, whereas women were more likely to report feeling unsafe in public. Being young, less educated, living in urban areas, and one’s own drinking were significant predictors of more harm from others’ drinking for both genders. ConclusionsThis study revealed a consistently high prevalence of alcohol-related aggression and violence in the five Asian countries. Patterns of harm within countries and populations at most risk for different forms of harms were identified. Alongside services for those affected, efforts to strengthen alcohol policies are needed in each society.

Provocation and target gender as moderators of the relationship between acute alcohol use and female perpetrated aggression.

Acute alcohol use appears to exert a small but significant effect on female perpetrated aggression in the laboratory but there has been no effort to evaluate comprehensively the situational moderators of this relationship. This preliminary review was intended to explore the moderating effects of provocation and target gender on alcohol-related aggression among females in this understudied area of research. Moderator analyses were conducted on 14 studies. Despite limitations imposed by the sparsity of laboratory based research on alcohol-related aggression among females, initial results suggest that alcohol may exert stronger effects over female aggression following high (d = 0.25, k = 8, p < .01, 95% CI = 0.10-0.40) rather than low (d = -0.07, k = 6, p = .52, 95% CI = -0.29-0.15) provocation and when targets of aggression are female (d = 0.19, k = 9, p = .01, 95% CI = 0.04-0.34) rather than male (d = -0.06, k = 4, p = .61, 95% CI = -0.30-0.18). Results offer initial insight into situational risk factors pertinent to research and treatment of alcohol-related aggression among females while serving as an impetus for future research in this critical, neglected area of study.

Is alcohol-related aggression related to automatic alcohol–power or alcohol–aggression associations?

Objective: One of the risks of alcohol use is violent behavior. The aim of the current study was to explore the role of automatic cognitive associations between alcohol and power and between alcohol and aggression in alcohol-related aggression and to test the moderating role of executive control. Method: Implicit association tests (IATs) were used to measure alcohol–power and alcohol–aggression associations in a sample of adolescents. The classical Stroop task was used to assess executive control. The tendency toward alcohol-related aggression was measured via self-report. Results: Alcohol–power associations predicted self-reported alcohol-related aggression, but there was no significant moderation by executive control. Alcohol–aggression associations did not predict self-reported alcohol-related aggression. Mathematical modeling was used to further explore differences between alcohol–power and alcohol–aggression associations. This analysis tentatively indicated that participants may have had a stronger tendency to overcome the bias in the alcohol–aggression IAT. Conclusions: Alcohol–power associations, but not alcohol–aggression associations, predicted alcohol-related aggression. Participants appear to exert more control when dealing with aggression- than with power-related alcohol associations, which may therefore better predict alcohol-related aggression. Implicit measures in combination with modeling techniques may be important in further disentangling the automatic processes involved in alcohol-related aggressive behavior, but the relationship between alcohol and power appears to be an essential factor.

Pervasive, hard-wired and male: Qualitative study of how UK adolescents view alcohol-related aggression.

Laboratory studies of alcohol-inexperienced adolescents show that aggression can be primed by alcohol-related stimuli, suggesting that alcohol-related aggression is partly socially learned. Script theory proposes that alcohol-related aggression ‘scripts’ for social behaviors are culturally-available and learned by individuals. The purpose of the study was to understand the content and origins of alcohol-related aggression scripts learned by adolescents. This qualitative focus group study of 40 adolescents (ages 14–16 years) examined alcohol-related aggression scripts. Participants believed aggression and severe injury to be pervasive when young people drink. Viewed through a biological lens, participants described aggression as an ‘instinctive’ and ‘hard-wired’ male trait facilitated by intoxication. As such, alcohol-related aggression was not seen as intended or personally controllable and participants did not see it in moral terms. Females were largely viewed as either bystanders of inter-male aggression or potential victims of male sexual aggression. Participants attributed their views on the frequency and nature of alcohol-related aggression to current affairs and reality television, which they felt portrayed a reality of which they had little experience. The origins of the explicitly biological frameworks that participants used seemed to lie in pre-existing beliefs about the nature of gender differences. Perceptions of the pervasiveness of male alcohol-related aggression, and the consequent failure to view alcohol-related aggression in moral terms, could dispose some young people to alcohol-related aggression. Interventions could target (1) the beliefs that alcohol-related aggression is pervasive and uncontrollable in males, and (2) participants’ dysfunctional views of masculinity that underpin those beliefs.

The neural correlates of alcohol-related aggression.

Alcohol intoxication is implicated in approximately half of all violent crimes. Over the past several decades, numerous theories have been proposed to account for the influence of alcohol on aggression. Nearly all of these theories imply that altered functioning in the prefrontal cortex is a proximal cause. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment, 50 healthy young men consumed either a low dose of alcohol or a placebo and completed an aggression paradigm against provocative and nonprovocative opponents. Provocation did not affect neural responses. However, relative to sober participants, during acts of aggression, intoxicated participants showed decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex, caudate, and ventral striatum, but heightened activation in the hippocampus. Among intoxicated participants, but not among sober participants, aggressive behavior was positively correlated with activation in the medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These results support theories that posit a role for prefrontal cortical dysfunction as an important factor in intoxicated aggression.

Alcohol consumption, masculinity, and alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour in sportspeople

ObjectivesThere is no research examining alcohol-related aggression and anti-social behaviour in UK or European sportspeople (athletes), and no research has examined relationships between masculinity, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related aggression and antisocial behaviour in sportspeople (athletes). This study addresses this gap. DesignCross-sectional. MethodsA sample (N=2048; women=892, 44%) of in season sportspeople enrolled at UK universities (response 83%), completed measures of masculinity, alcohol consumption, within-sport (on-field) violence, and having been the perpetrator and/or victim of alcohol-related violent/aggressive and antisocial behaviour (e.g., hit/assaulted, vandalism, sexual assault). Logistic regressions examined predictors of alcohol-related violence/aggression and anti-social behaviours. ResultsSignificant bivariate relationships between masculinity, within-sport violence, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related aggression and anti-social behaviour were found for both men and women (p’s<.001). Logistic regression adjusting for all variables showed that higher levels of masculinity and alcohol consumption in men and women were related to an increased odds of having conducted an aggressive, violent and/or anti-social act in the past 12 months when intoxicated. Odds ratios were largest for relationships between masculinity, alcohol consumption, within-sport violence, and interpersonal violence/aggression (p’s<.001). A similar pattern of results was found for having been the victim of aggression and anti-social behaviour. ConclusionsAlcohol-related aggression and anti-social behaviour appear to be problematic in UK university sportspeople, and is related to masculinity and excessive drinking. Interventions that reduce excessive alcohol consumption, masculine norms and associated within-sport violence, could be effective in reducing alcohol-related aggression and antisocial behaviour in UK sportspeople.

Perpetration of Alcohol-Related Aggression by Male and Female College Students: An Examination of Overt and Relational Aggression.

Existing literature exemplifies the relationship between alcohol and overt aggression, especially for adult males. Less clear is the relationship between alcohol and aggression among male and female college students, in particular, the nature of this aggression and the co-occurrence of drinking and aggression on the same day (temporal proximity). This study examines the chronic and temporal nature of males' and females' alcohol-related aggression among college students. Two hundred fourteen students completed a web-based 7-day event-level survey measuring alcohol consumption and perpetration of physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and relational aggression over 4 weeks, resulting in 4,256 observations (days). The global analysis revealed students who are heavy drinkers are more likely to perpetrate all four forms of aggression, whereas the event-level analysis revealed that specific forms of aggression are associated with drinking at the time, while other forms were not linked to drinking occasions. Cross-tabulation revealed males and females were more likely to use verbal and physical aggression when drinking. For females, drinking was also associated with relational aggression and anger. Despite often being overlooked in research on aggression during emerging adulthood, relational aggression was prevalent. Discrepancies between the global and temporal analysis revealed factors other than alcohol might explain the relationship between chronic alcohol consumption and specific forms of aggression. This is one of the first event-level studies to show the temporal relationship between alcohol and relational aggression. The distinctions in the current study, exemplifying the diversity of alcohol-related aggression, are critical for understanding aggressive behavior, potential gender differences, and for developing interventions. The temporal relationship between alcohol and aggression suggests health interventions should target drinking and aggression simultaneously.