Distal and proximal factors associated with aggression towards partners and non-partners among patients in substance abuse treatment

• Published in: Journal of substance abuse treatment Vol. 47; no. 4; pp. 282 - 292
• Main Authors: Epstein-Ngo, Quyen M., Ph.D, Walton, Maureen A., M.P.H., Ph.D, Sanborn, Michelle, M.S, Kraus, Shane, Ph.D, Blow, Fred, Ph.D, Cunningham, Rebecca, M.D, Chermack, Stephen T., Ph.D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.10.2014; Elsevier; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Adults; Aggressiveness; Biological and medical sciences; Cross-Sectional Studies; Desintoxication. Drug withdrawal; Drug addiction; Drug use; Female; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Multivariate analysis; Non-partner violence; Partner violence; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Risk Factors; Social behavior disorders. Criminal behavior. Delinquency; Spouses; Substance abuse treatment; Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; Substance use; Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology; Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; Substance-Related Disorders - rehabilitation; Substance-Related Disorders - therapy; Treatments; United States - epidemiology; Violence; United States; North America; America; Substance use; Partner violence; Adults; Non-partner violence; Risk factors; Human; Social environment; Marital relation; Drug addiction; Poison withdrawal; Aggression; Violence; Mental health; Substance abuse; Victimology; Mistreatment; Addiction; Cross sectional study; Intimate partner violence; Young adult; Risk factor; Adult; Elderly; Public health
• ISSN: 0740-5472; 1873-6483
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsat.2014.05.005

Abstract Studies of violence in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment settings typically focus on partner aggression (PA) although non-partner aggression (NPA) is also a common problem. This study examines potentially distinct paths of distal and proximal risk factors related to aggression towards non-partners (NPA) and partners (PA) among a SUD treatment sample. The sample included 176 adults reporting past-year violence. Bivariate analyses indicated several distal and proximal factors were associated with NPA and PA. According to multivariate, multiple mediation analyses youth aggression history was a factor for both NPA and PA. Alcohol and cocaine use and psychological distress were associated with NPA; marijuana use was associated with PA. There also was evidence of indirect effects of distal factors on NPA and PA. The results suggest that there may be substantially different dynamics associated with NPA and PA, and have implications for developing screening, assessment and treatment protocols targeting violence among individuals in SUD treatment.