Alcohol-aggression expectancies and dispositional rumination moderate the effect of alcohol consumption on alcohol-related aggression and hostility

Human aggression in everyday life: An empirical test of the general aggression model

With the general aggression model (GAM), Anderson and Bushman (2002) provided an integrative framework to explain the complex nature of aggression. Based on the GAM, we examined whether personological and situational factors (interactively) have an impact on the person's internal state (consisting of aggressive cognition, affect, and physiological arousal), which in turn is assumed to lead to aggressive behaviour. In a large-scale experience sampling study, 403 participants answered 7558 questionnaires over a period of 2 weeks. As hypothesized, participants were more likely to exhibit an aggressive internal state the higher they scored on antagonistic personality traits (trait aggression, narcissism, psychopathy, sadism, anger rumination) and the more interpersonal, intrapersonal, and environmental triggers they experienced. Aggressive behaviour was positively related to trait aggression, psychopathy, sadism, anger rumination, and all situational triggers. Furthermore, the impact of antagonistic personality traits and situational triggers on aggressive behaviour was considerably reduced when the aggressive internal state was taken into account. Contrary to predictions, the relationship between antagonistic personality traits and the aggressive internal state was most pronounced when situational triggers were low. Overall, however, the process by which personal and situational variables predict aggression in daily life can be well explained by the GAM.

Longitudinal effect of self-control on reactive-proactive aggression: Mediating roles of hostile rumination and moral disengagement

Self-control is a well-known inhibitor of aggression, but the effect of self-control on different kinds of aggression (such as reactive-proactive aggression) and the underlying mediating mechanisms of these effects are unclear. We developed a mediation model to address these issues. A three-wave study was conducted with a sample of 1203 qualifying Chinese undergraduates to test the model. The results showed that self-control at Wave 1 negatively predicted reactive aggression at Wave 3 through mediating effects of hostile rumination and moral disengagement at Wave 2 at the same time, while self-control at Wave 1 negatively predicted proactive aggression at Wave 3 only through moral disengagement at Wave 2. Furthermore, the longitudinal relationship between hostile rumination and moral disengagement is mutual. The current findings support our hypotheses regarding the mediation model of self-control inhibiting reactive-proactive aggression and suggest that moral disengagement should be a common and basic variable to predict most kinds of aggression; further, hostile rumination only has a particular effect on reactive aggression. The present study used motivation theory to explain its mediation model, which develops aggressive theory regarding varied common influencing factors and underlying mediating mechanisms of reactive and proactive aggression.

Male Barroom Aggression among Members of the Australian Construction Industry: Associations with Heavy Episodic Drinking, Trait Variables and Masculinity Factors

Introduction and Aims: Past research indicates heavy episodic drinking (HED), trait aggression, male honour and conformity to masculine norms are risk factors for male barroom aggression (MBA) perpetration. However, little is known about the impact of these variables on experiences of MBA victimization. Further, data derived previously, particularly in relation to perpetration have come from relatively low-risk samples comprising university students, limiting the generalizability of findings to other, at-risk male groups. Thus, the present study assessed the impact of the aforementioned variables as well as personality constructs of impulsivity and narcissism on both the perpetration of and victimization from MBA among a high-risk sample sourced from male members of the Australian construction industry. Method: A purposive sample of Australian male construction workers aged 18 to 69 years (n = 476, M_age = 25.90, SD_age = 9.44) completed individual interviews at their current place of employment or while training at various trade schools in Geelong and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Items related to past month HED, past year experiences of verbal and physical MBA (perpetration and victimization), trait aggression’s four factors (physical, verbal, anger, hostility), impulsivity, narcissism, male honour and conformity to masculine norms. Results: Participants reported high levels of verbal (24.2%) and physical (21%) MBA perpetration and verbal (33.6%) and physical (31.1%) MBA victimization. Hierarchical binary logistic regression analyses identified HED as the strongest predictor of aggression involvement, while trait physical aggression, trait anger, narcissism and conformity to norms endorsing violence and a need to win were significantly and positively associated with MBA perpetration. Conclusions: The present study reinforces the key relationships between heavy drinking and aspects of personality and MBA, while also highlighting narcissism as a risk factor for barroom aggression perpetration. Indeed, personality profiles and HED appear to exert stronger influences on MBA perpetration than socially constructed masculinity factors, most of which were unrelated to aggression involvement in bars, clubs or pubs.

Association between gambling disorder and emotion (dys)regulation: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the role of emotion (dys)regulation in gambling disorder (GD). PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed were systematically searched for articles published until November 3, 2020. Forty-nine studies were considered for the systematic review; of these, 38 comprising 5242 participants met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. Associations were found between GD and specific emotion regulation (ER) deficits, namely (1) nonacceptance of negative emotional states, (2) difficulties in maintaining goal-directed behaviors when faced with intense emotional contexts, (3) lack of clarity about emotional states (poor emotional awareness), (4) low impulse control in reaction to negative emotional states, and (5) difficulties in accessing adaptive ER strategies. We furthermore found that GD is associated with a tendency for emotional suppression, which is known as a maladaptive ER strategy and linked with reduced mindfulness abilities. Additional moderator analyses were conducted regarding age, gender, type of instrument used to measure GD, clinical status of the samples, and quality of the studies. Overall, the data demonstrated consistent and significant associations between GD and ER. This systematic review and meta-analysis mostly supports the conceptualization of GD as an addictive disorder characterized by ER deficits and stresses the need to develop interventions in ER deficits that are tailored to the specificities of GD.

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.

Rumiación cognitiva y psicopatologías externalizantes: una revisión sistemática

Las psicopatologías internalizantes y externalizantes se asocian con la rumiación cognitiva según el modelo transdiagnóstico, sin embargo, en este segundo grupo de problemáticas esta asociación aún requiere de avances investigativos en el campo. El objetivo de este estudio consistió en evidenciar de manera sistemática y estructurada, la investigación reciente sobre la relación que hay entre la psicopatología externalizante y la rumiación cognitiva. Se realizó una revisión sistemática a partir de las pautas del Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). Se tomaron estudios publicados que aparecen en bases de datos que cumplieran con los criterios de elegibilidad propuestos para el estudio, además, se empleó sistema de calificación por jueces como control de sesgo. En la selección final se obtuvieron 17 artículos investigativos depurados de 7314 inicialmente seleccionados. Los resultados evidenciaron que las conductas desadaptadas, agresivas, el tono de voz elevado, la ingesta desproporcionada de alcohol, la agitación psicomotora y la desobediencia, están asociados a la rumiación cognitiva, lo que evidencia a su vez, una elevada correlación con la ira, como factor antecesor de la conducta externalizante. Por otra parte, se encontró que los factores como la angustia, el estrés, la irritabilidad, el miedo y las experiencias laborales negativas, desencadenan una elevación en la rumiación cognitiva, y conllevan a desajustes comportamentales dada la ausencia de recursos en las estrategias de afrontamiento y el autocontrol, particularmente, ante la provocación y la respuesta emocional de la ira. Palabras Clave: Revisión sistemática, rumiación, externalizante, psicopatología, agresión.

Trauma Cognitions and Partner Aggression: Anger, Hostility, and Rumination as Intervening Mechanisms

OBJECTIVE

Previous research has demonstrated a significant association between trauma and intimate partner aggression (IPA) perpetration. However, the precise mechanisms underlying this relationship have yet to be fully elucidated. In the present study, we examined the impact of several key factors implicated in Ehlers and Clark's (2000) cognitive model of trauma (i.e., trauma cognitions, anger, hostility, and rumination) on IPA perpetration.

METHOD

Participants in this study were 271 male and female heavy drinkers at high risk for IPA from the community who completed measures of dysfunctional posttraumatic cognitions, dispositional rumination, trait anger and hostility, and IPA perpetration. A moderated mediational model was tested to determine how these variables interact to predict IPA perpetration.

RESULTS

Results indicated that anger and hostility mediated the effect of negative cognitions about the world on IPA perpetration, with this indirect effect being stronger for individuals with higher levels of rumination.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that cognitive and affective processes that may result from trauma exposure are associated with IPA and should be targeted in prevention and intervention programs for individuals at risk for perpetration.

Associations Between Substance Use in Commission of Sexual Crimes and Offense Characteristics Among Youth: Mitigating Effects of Substance Use Treatment

The small extant research base on substance use and youth sexual offending has very few descriptive details. Furthermore, research has yet to test associations between the use of substances in the commission of sexual crimes and offense-related characteristics and how substance use treatment can mitigate these effects. In a sample of residentially housed youth adjudicated of a sexual crime ( N = 332), prevalence patterns are broken down by type of substance use behavior. Sequential regression models are run to test the associations between substance use prior to a sexual crime and number of victims, sexual deviance, and non-sexual criminality. Substance use treatment is tested as a mitigating factor in these relationships. Results reveal high levels of family substance use, and high rates of alcohol, marijuana, and other substance use. There were associations between substance use prior to sexual criminality and sexual deviance and non-sexual criminality. Substance use treatment reduced the effects of substance use on non-sexual criminality. Research and treatment implications are offered.

Gender and Country Differences in Alcohol-Aggression Expectancy and Alcohol-Related Intimate Partner Violence

Alcohol use is associated with a higher rate of violent offending among males and a higher rate of violent victimization among females, especially for Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Using comparable self-reported data from the GENACIS Project, the present study examines between the United States (n=2,363) and Japan (n=1,660) whether the expected gender difference in alcohol-related IPV is explained by alcohol-aggression expectancy. The results indicate that though males are more likely than females to expect that alcohol would make them more aggressive, alcohol-aggression expectancy has a very little to do with the gender difference in alcohol-related IPV. In both countries, overall, alcohol use of males, irrespective of their alcohol-aggression expectancy, most strongly and directly accounted for the gender difference in alcohol-related IPV.

Caffeinated and non-caffeinated alcohol use and indirect aggression: The impact of self-regulation

Research shows that heavier alcohol use is associated with physical aggression. Scant research has examined the way in which alcohol relates to other forms of aggression, such as indirect aggression (e.g., malicious humor, social exclusion). Given the possible negative consequences of indirect aggression and the limited evidence suggesting alcohol use can elicit indirectly aggressive responses, research is needed to further investigate the association between drinking behavior and indirect aggression. Additionally, specific alcoholic beverages, such as caffeinated alcoholic beverages (CABs; e.g., Red Bull and vodka), may potentiate aggression above the influence of typical use, and thus warrant examination with regard to indirect aggression. One factor that may impact the strength of the alcohol-indirect aggression and CAB-indirect aggression relationships is one's level of self-regulation. Consequently, our study examined the relationships between (1) alcohol use and indirect aggression, (2) CAB use and indirect aggression, and (3) self-regulation as a moderator. Participants were 733 (67.6% female) undergraduate students who reported their CAB and alcohol use, self-regulation, and aggressive behaviors. Results revealed that heavier alcohol use was associated with more frequent indirect aggression after controlling for dispositional aggression. Heavier CAB use was related to more frequent indirect aggression after accounting for typical use and dispositional aggression. Self-regulation moderated these associations such that for those with lower self-regulation, greater alcohol and CAB consumption was associated with greater indirect aggression. Our findings suggest that heavier alcohol and CAB consumption may be risk factors for engaging in indirect aggression and this risk is impacted by one's regulatory control.

Alcohol Use, Alcohol-Related Outcome Expectancies, and Partner Aggression Among Males Court-Mandated to Batterer Intervention Programs: A Brief Report

Additional work is needed to determine how and/or why the relationship between alcohol use and increased risk of partner aggression (PA) exists. Researchers have begun to examine whether alcohol-related outcome expectancies (i.e., beliefs about the cognitive and behavioral effects of alcohol) are associated with PA irrespective of alcohol use. We examined the relationship between alcohol use, alcohol expectancies, and PA among 360 males arrested for a domestic violence offense and court-mandated to treatment. Results indicate that certain alcohol expectancies do play a role in the relationship between alcohol use and some forms of PA.

A Review of Existing Studies Reporting the Negative Effects of Alcohol Access and Positive Effects of Alcohol Control Policies on Interpersonal Violence

Alcohol consumption often leads to elevated rates of violence yet alcohol access policies continue to relax across the globe. Our review establishes the extent alcohol policy can moderate violent crime through alcohol availability restrictions. Results were informed from comprehensive selection of peer-reviewed journals from 1950 to October 2015. Our search identified 87 relevant studies on alcohol access and violence conducted across 12 countries. Seventeen studies included quasi-control design, and 23 conducted intervention analysis. Seventy-one (82%) reported a significant relationship between alcohol access and violent offenses. Alcohol outlet studies reported the greatest percentage of significant results (93%), with trading hours (63%), and alcohol price following (58%). Results from baseline studies indicated the effectiveness of increasing the price of commonly consumed alcohol, restricting the hours of alcohol trading, and limiting the number of alcohol outlets per region to prevent violent offenses. Unclear are the effects of tax reductions, restriction of on-premises re-entry, and different outlet types on violent crime. Further, the generalization of statistics over broad areas and the low number of control/intervention studies poses some concern for confounding or correlated effects on study results, and amount of information for local-level prevention of interpersonal violence. Future studies should focus on gathering longitudinal data, validating models, limiting crime data to peak drinking days and times, and wherever possible collecting the joint distribution between violent crime, intoxication, and place. A greater uptake of local-level analysis will benefit studies comparing the influence of multiple alcohol establishment types by relating the location of a crime to establishment proximity. Despite, some uncertainties particular studies showed that even modest policy changes, such as 1% increases in alcohol price, 1 h changes to closing times, and limiting establishment densities to <25 outlets per postal code substantively reduce violent crime.

Alcohol Myopia Revisited: Clarifying Aggression and Other Acts of Disinhibition Through a Distorted Lens

The alcohol myopia model (AMM; Steele & Josephs, 1990) is reviewed in light of its unique ability to account for a variety of alcohol and nonalcohol-related disinhibited behaviors, particularly aggression. The AMM posits that alcohol has a narrowing, or a "myopic," effect on one's ability to attend to competing instigatory and inhibitory cues. Disinhibited behavior is presumed to occur when attention is directed toward salient provocative or instigatory cues rather than inhibitory cues. AMM research is reviewed with regard to stress and anxiety, risky sexual behavior, drinking and driving, suicide, disinhibited eating, smoking, and alcohol-related aggression. The AMM is also expanded by proposing five key mechanisms (i.e., negative affect, angry affect, hostile cognitive rumination, self-awareness, and empathy) that are likely to explain how the model is specifically involved in the alcohol-aggression relation. Finally, a number of public health interventions, extrapolated from the AMM, are proposed to stimulate future research directed at reducing the prevalence of alcohol-related violence.

Alcohol expectancies and evaluations of aggression in alcohol-related intimate-partner verbal and physical aggression

OBJECTIVE

Alcohol aggression expectancies have been found to be associated with increases in aggressive behavior. However, research has not consistently examined evaluations of such behavior. This is unfortunate as both expectancies and evaluations may play a role in whether such behavior will occur. Given this, the current study cross-sectionally examined the associations between alcohol aggression expectancies, evaluations of alcohol-related aggression, indicators of excessive drinking, and alcohol-related verbal and physical aggression.

METHOD

The sample consisted of 280 married and cohabiting couples. These couples reported on excessive drinking indicators, alcohol expectancies and evaluations, and alcohol-related verbal and physical aggression during the past year.

RESULTS

Findings showed that verbal aggression was positively associated with indicators of excessive drinking among females and with alcohol aggression expectancies for females who evaluated such aggression positively. For males, aggression expectancies and indicators of excessive drinking were positively associated with verbal aggression. For physical aggression, results showed that indicators of excessive drinking and aggression expectancies were associated with physical aggression for females. For males, aggression expectancies were positively associated and evaluations were negatively associated with physical aggression.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings add to previous research on alcohol aggression expectancies in close relationships and emphasize the importance of considering evaluations of alcohol-related behavior and how they may play a role in intimate-partner violence and aggression.

The interactive effects of emotion regulation and alcohol intoxication on lab-based intimate partner aggression

This study draws on Finkel and Eckhardt's (2013) I³ framework to examine the interactive effects of 2 emotion regulation strategies-anger rumination (an impellance factor) and reappraisal (an inhibition factor), and alcohol intoxication (a disinhibition factor)-on intimate partner aggression (IPA) perpetration as measured with an analogue aggression task. Participants were 69 couples recruited from a large Midwestern university (total N = 138). Participants' trait rumination and reappraisal were measured by self-report. Participants were randomized individually to an alcohol or placebo condition, then recalled an anger event while using 1 of 3 randomly assigned emotion regulation conditions (rumination, reappraisal, or uninstructed). Following this, participants completed an analogue aggression task involving ostensibly assigning white noise blasts to their partner. Participants in the alcohol condition displayed greater IPA than participants in the placebo condition for provoked IPA, but not unprovoked IPA. Results also revealed interactions such that for those in the alcohol and rumination group, higher trait reappraisal was related to lower unprovoked IPA. For provoked IPA, higher trait rumination was related to greater IPA among those in the alcohol and rumination condition and those in the placebo and uninstructed condition. In general, results were consistent with I³ theory, suggesting that alcohol disinhibits, rumination impels, and trait reappraisal inhibits IPA. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed in the context of current knowledge about the influence of alcohol intoxication and emotion regulation strategies on IPA perpetration.

Screening and brief intervention for substance misuse: Does it reduce aggression and HIV-related risk behaviours?

PURPOSE

To explore whether reducing substance misuse through a brief motivational intervention also reduces aggression and HIV risk behaviours.

METHODS

Participants were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial in primary care if they screened positive for substance misuse. Substance misuse was assessed using the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test; aggression, using a modified version of the Explicit Aggression Scale; and HIV risk, through a count of common risk behaviours. The intervention was received on the day of the baseline interview, with a 3-month follow-up.

RESULTS

Participants who received the intervention were significantly more likely to reduce their alcohol use than those who did not; no effect was identified for other substances. In addition, participants who reduced substance misuse (whether as an effect of the intervention or not) also reduced aggression but not HIV risk behaviours.

CONCLUSIONS

Reducing substance misuse through any means reduces aggression; other interventions are needed for HIV risk reduction.

Is It Dating Violence or Just "Drunken Behavior"? Judgments of Intimate Partner Violence When the Perpetrator Is Under the Influence of Alcohol

BACKGROUND

Previous research has shown a strong bias for laypersons to believe alcohol use and aggression to go hand-in-hand (see Quigley & Leonard, 2006 ). Furthermore, research has shown that alcohol use can be seen as a mitigating circumstance for aggression, resulting in a reduction of blame and accountability (Bullock, 2002 ; Katz & Arias, 2001 ; Tryggvesson, 2004 ).

OBJECTIVES

The present study investigated observers' judgments of intimate partner violence (IPV) when the perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol. We hypothesized that participants would view violent behavior as more common and less abusive if they thought the perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol.

METHODS

College students (n = 79) viewed a video depicting an increasingly abusive interaction between college-age dating partners (see Witte & Kendra, 2010 ) and half of the participants were lead to believe that the perpetrator was drinking alcohol prior to the interaction. Participants rated the videotaped vignette at four timepoints to assess the degree to which they believed the interaction was normal/common and abusive.

RESULTS

Observers judged the abusive behavior as more common and less abusive when alcohol was involved, but only for psychologically abusive behaviors and moderately severe physically abusive behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE

The results of this study provide support for the notion that direct observers of IPV judge moderately abusive behavior as more common and less abusive when alcohol is involved. With this, theories concerning alcohol expectancies and interpretations of interpersonal violence can be more readily applied to real-life scenarios, such as in the validity of eye-witness testimony.

Alcohol and violence in the emergency room: a review and perspectives from psychological and social sciences

Our objective is to present a focused review of the scientific literature on the effect of alcohol consumption on violence related-injuries assessed in the emergency room (ER) and to show how psychological and behavioral sciences could lead to a better understanding of the factors contributing to alcohol-related injuries in the ER. We retrieved published literature through a detailed search in Academic Search Premier, MEDLINE with Full Text PsycARTICLES, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, PsycINFO, PUBMed and SocINDEX with Full Text for articles related to emergency rooms, medical problems and sociocognitive models addressing alcohol intoxication articles. The first search was conducted in June 2011 and updated until August 2013. Literature shows that compared to uninjured patients; injured ones have a higher probability of: (i) having an elevated blood-alcohol concentration upon arrival at the ER; (ii) reporting having drunk alcohol during the six hours preceding the event; and (iii) suffering from drinking-related consequences that adversely affect their social life. The main neurocognitive and sociocognitive models on alcohol and aggression are also discussed in order to understand the aetiology of violence-related injuries in emergency rooms. Suggestions are made for future research and prevention.

Trait aggression and problematic alcohol use among college students: the moderating effect of distress tolerance

BACKGROUND

Trait aggression has been linked to alcohol-related problems among college students. However, the individual conditions underlying this association are unknown. Empirical evidence and theory suggest the importance of distress tolerance, defined as an individual's ability to withstand negative affective states, in the relationship between trait aggression and alcohol use. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine whether distress tolerance moderates the relationship between trait aggression and problematic alcohol use.

METHODS

Participants were 646 undergraduate students in a large university, who reported any lifetime alcohol use. The dependent variable, problematic alcohol use, was measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test total score. The main independent variable, trait aggression, was assessed on the negative emotionality scale of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire, and the moderator, distress tolerance, was determined using the Distress Tolerance Scale.

RESULTS

Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated a significant interaction between trait aggression and distress tolerance in predicting problematic alcohol use, adjusting for demographic variables, regular substance use, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. Specifically, a significant positive relationship between trait aggression and problematic alcohol use was present among those with low, but not high, distress tolerance.

CONCLUSIONS

Results provide evidence that college students with high levels of trait aggression are more likely to engage in problematic alcohol use if they also evidence an inability to tolerate negative affective states. Study implications are discussed, including the development of prevention and intervention programs that target distress tolerance skills.

Trait and state hostile rumination facilitate alcohol-related aggression

OBJECTIVE

This investigation attempted to determine whether trait and state hostile rumination functioned as risk factors for the relation between acute alcohol intoxication and aggression.

METHOD

Participants were 516 social drinkers (252 men and 264 women). Trait hostile rumination was assessed using Caprara's Dissipation-Rumination Scale. Following the consumption of either an alcohol or a placebo beverage, participants were tested on a laboratory task in which electric shocks were received from and administered to a fictitious opponent under the guise of a competitive reaction-time task. Aggression was operationalized as the combined mean responses for shock intensity and duration across all trials. In a subset of the sample (n = 320), state hostile rumination was assessed following the aggression task using a self-report measure.

RESULTS

As expected, both trait and state measures acted as moderators. Specifically, acute alcohol intoxication was more likely to increase aggression in persons with higher trait and state hostile rumination scores compared with their equally intoxicated lower rumination counterparts.

CONCLUSIONS

This was the first investigation to demonstrate that trait or state rumination significantly heighten the risk of intoxicated aggression. We believe that hostile rumination facilitates intoxicated aggression because ruminators have difficulty diverting their attention away from anger-provoking stimuli and related thoughts, thus making violent reactions more likely. Clinical and public health interventions would benefit by developing strategies to distract ruminative attention away from violence-promoting messages, especially when persons are under the influence of alcohol.

Alcohol expectancies, alcohol use, and hostility as longitudinal predictors of alcohol-related aggression

The direct and interactive effects of alcohol expectancies for aggression, dispositional hostility, and heavy alcohol consumption on alcohol-related physical aggression were examined across the first four years of marriage in a sample of 634 newlywed couples. For husbands, alcohol aggression expectancies predicted increases in alcohol-related aggression; across husbands and wives, however, aggression expectancies were not found to interact with hostility or alcohol consumption to predict physical aggression. Consistent with previous research, hostility and alcohol consumption interacted with each other to predict alcohol-related aggression. Specifically, for both husbands and wives high in dispositional hostility, heavy alcohol consumption was positively associated with the occurrence of alcohol-related aggression; for those low in dispositional hostility, however, there was no association between alcohol consumption and alcohol-related aggression. Findings are contrasted with previous longitudinal research on alcohol aggression expectancies and physical aggression in married couples. The article discusses the extent to which findings may vary depending on whether expectancies are assessed in relation to alcohol's effect on one's own behavior versus alcohol's effect on others' behavior.

Gender differences in trait aggression in young adults with drug and alcohol dependence compared to the general population

OBJECTIVE

Data in gender differences in aggression among alcohol and drug dependent subjects are lacking, and no published data are available about gender differences among various subtypes of substance using populations. The goal of this cross-sectional study was to investigate gender differences with regard to types of trait aggression in substance dependent young populations (age: 20-35 years) compared to the general population.

METHODS

Subjects were selected from two clinical samples with a diagnosis of alcohol and drug dependence as well as from a representative sample of the general population. Trait aggression was measured by the four individual subscales of the Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire (physical-PA, verbal aggression-VA, hostility-H and anger AN) whereas alcohol and drug use were characterized by the AUDIT and EuroADAD scales, respectively.

RESULTS

Alcohol and drug dependent subjects showed higher severity on all four subscales of trait aggression compared to the general population. The male-female difference was the highest in the cannabis group. General Linear Model analysis for PA indicated a significant main effect of gender (higher PA for males, p=0.034) with no interaction between substance dependence and gender. For VA, no main effect or interaction for gender was found. Effect sizes for gender difference indicated that while males and females were similar in the control group in the severity in H and A, the level of H and AN was substantially higher in females than in males in the clinical group. These differences between the two genders reached statistical significance in the marijuana group, where female subjects showed a significantly higher severity in these two domains.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared to the normal sample chronic substance use is associated with higher scores on certain factors of trait aggression, including hostility and anger, in females than in males. Our data suggest that aggression in substance dependent females is more provocable by chronic use of alcohol and drugs than in males.

Alcohol dose and aggression: another reason why drinking more is a bad idea

OBJECTIVE

Numerous studies have examined the impact of alcohol on violence; however, only a small number have addressed differences elicited by different doses of alcohol. Such studies are limited by mixed findings, small sample sizes, inconsistent alcohol doses and control conditions, a bias toward studying only male participants, and the predominant use of only one particular measure to assess aggression. The present laboratory investigation was designed to elucidate and advance this literature by improving on these limitations.

METHOD

Participants were 187 (95 men and 92 women) social drinkers. Following the consumption of one of six alcohol doses (i.e., 0.0 g/kg, 0.125 g/kg, 0.25 g/kg, 0.5 g/kg, 0.75 g/kg, and 1.0 g/kg), participants were tested on a laboratory task in which electric shocks were received from and administered to a fictitious opponent under the guise of a competitive reaction-time task. Aggression was operationalized as the intensity and duration of shocks administered to one's "opponent."

RESULTS

Analyses revealed a highly significant positive linear trend between alcohol dose and aggression for both genders.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data aid in clarifying a body of literature that has been afflicted with numerous limitations and will help guide the selection of alcohol doses for researchers conducting future laboratory-based aggression studies.

Violência, dependência química e transtornos mentais em presidiários

O presente trabalho realizou uma análise de artigos científicos selecionados nas fontes eletrônicas SciELO, PubMed e Web of Science, no período entre 1998 e 2008. Na elaboração da revisão e na discussão de dados, foram utilizados os descritores: violência (violence); dependência de drogas (drug dependence), transtornos mentais (mental disturbs) e prisioneiros (prisoners). No total, foram encontrados 408 artigos sobre a temática, tendo sido utilizados 60 deles, juntamente com 23 livros e teses que abordam a problemática em questão. A revisão teve por objetivo analisar a relação entre violência, dependência química e transtornos mentais na população carcerária masculina. Os resultados mostraram que o uso abusivo de drogas é um importante fator de risco para a violência e que os transtornos mentais, muitas vezes, acompanham atos violentos. Conclui-se que a violência e a dependência de drogas estão diretamente relacionadas em prisioneiros.

Functional neural correlates of mindfulness meditations in comparison with psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and placebo effect. Is there a link?

Chiesa A, Brambilla P, Serretti A. Functional neural correlates of mindfulness meditations in comparison with psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and placebo effect. Is there a link?

OBJECTIVE

Mindfulness meditations (MM) are a group of meditation practices which are increasingly receiving attention. The aim of the present work is to review current findings about the neural correlates of MM and compare such findings with other specific and non-specific treatments.

METHODS

A literature search was undertaken using MEDLINE, ISI web of knowledge, the Cochrane database and references of retrieved articles. Studies which focused on the functional neural correlates of MM, psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and placebo published up to August 2009 were screened in order to be considered for the inclusion.

RESULTS

Main findings suggest that long-term MM practice allows a more flexible emotional regulation by engaging frontal cortical structures to dampen automatic amygdala activation. A large overlap exists between cerebral areas activated during MM, psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and those activated by placebo. However, while MM, psychotherapy and placebo seem to act through a top-down regulation, antidepressants seem to act through a bottom-up process.

CONCLUSION

MM seem to target specific brain areas related to emotions and emotional regulation. Similar mechanisms have been observed also in other interventions, particularly psychotherapy.

Influence of heavy episodic drinking on the relation between men's locus of control and aggression toward intimate partners

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the interactive effects of locus of control and heavy episodic drinking on men's physical assault and sexual coercion against intimate partners.

METHOD

Participants were 151 heterosexual drinking men who completed self-report measures of locus of control, alcohol consumption during the past 12 months, and intimate-partner aggression during the past 12 months.

RESULTS

An internal locus of control was associated with a lower frequency of physical assault and sexual coercion toward intimate partners among men who reported lower quantities of alcohol consumption. However, data suggested that the protective qualities of an internal locus of control for both forms of partner aggression diminished among men who reported higher quantities of alcohol consumption.

CONCLUSIONS

These results support alcohol myopia theory and extend this theory by suggesting how alcohol consumption may affect the relation between locus of control and different forms of intimate-partner aggression toward women.

Aggression among male alcohol-dependent inpatients who smoke cigarettes

The authors aimed to explore the relation between nicotine dependence and the severity of aggression among Turkish male alcohol-dependent inpatients who smoked cigarettes, as well as the effect of aggression in these groups. Participants were 126 male alcohol-dependent inpatients who were given the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, Substance Use Disorder Module (A. Corapcioglu, O. Aydemir, & M. Yildiz, 1999; M. B. First, R. L. Spitzer, & J. B. W. Williams, 1997), the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (K. O. Fagerstrom, 1978), and the Overt Aggression Scale (OAS; S. C. Yudofsky, J. M. Silver, W. Jackson, J. Endicott, & D. Williams, 1986). The authors found differences between male alcohol-dependent inpatients with nicotine dependence (n = 94) and those with nondependence (n = 32) in OAS subtypes. The authors' findings showed that smoking cigarettes-an addiction frequently observed with alcoholism-was positively correlated with aggressive behaviors. The authors suggest that smoking cigarettes may cause aggression or aggression may cause smoking. Observing and evaluating how aggression and smoking cigarettes are associated with alcohol dependence may help relapse prevention and improve effectiveness of treatment interventions in alcoholism.

Agreeableness and alcohol-related aggression: the mediating effect of trait aggressivity

This study investigated the mediating effect of trait aggressivity on the relation between agreeableness and alcohol-related aggression in a laboratory setting. Participants were 116 healthy male social drinkers between 21 and 30 years of age. Agreeableness and trait aggressivity were measured using the Big Five Inventory and the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, respectively. Following the consumption of an alcohol or no-alcohol control beverage, participants completed a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm, in which electric shocks were received from and administered to a fictitious opponent during a competitive task. Aggression was operationalized as the proportion of the most extreme shocks delivered to the fictitious opponent under conditions of low and high provocation. Results indicated that lower levels of agreeableness were associated with higher levels of trait aggressivity. In turn, higher levels of trait aggressivity predicted extreme aggression in intoxicated, but not sober, participants under low, but not high, provocation. Findings highlight the importance of examining determinants of intoxicated aggression within a broader theoretical framework of personality.

Drugs and aggression readily mix; so what now?

Intoxicated aggression is both a dangerous and a costly problem for society, with alcohol being involved in over 50% of violent crimes, and the cost of alcohol-consumption-related crime being estimated at $205 billion in the United States alone. First, the authors reviewed the substantial evidence for the connection between alcohol consumption and aggression, and then they examined the risk factors for this problem. These included societal/cultural factors, such as availability and alcohol expectancies, and individual factors, such as demographic characteristics, personality, comorbid disorders, individual differences in response to alcohol, and cognitive functioning. Finally, interventions were suggested focusing on policy, alcohol sellers, treatments for alcohol abuse and dependency, anger management, pharmacology, and low executive functioning. Further efforts are still needed to target interventions to specific risk factors.

Applying the attention-allocation model to the explanation of alcohol-related aggression: implications for prevention

The primary purpose of this article is to apply the attention-allocation model (AAM; Steele and Josephs, 1990 ) to the explanation, as well as the prevention, of alcohol-related violence. The AAM contends that alcohol has a "myopic" effect on attentional capacity that presumably facilitates aggression by narrowing attentional focus on the most salient provocative cues that are naturally present in hostile situations, rather than on less salient inhibitory cues. Data are presented to demonstrate support for the AAM with regard to alcohol-related aggression. The model has also been expanded to suggest some intermediary mechanisms that may account for how distracting attention away from provocative cues might be involved in the reduction of aggression. Finally, a number of practical suggestions are put forth regarding how the AAM can be applied to the prevention of intoxicated aggression.

Predictors of heavy drinking and drinking problems over the first 4 years of marriage

This study investigated the factors predictive of heavy drinking and drinking problems over the early years of marriage, focusing on premarital drinking and the relatively stable individual risk and protective factors that were present prior to marriage and on social-interpersonal factors that may change or emerge over marriage. Newlywed couples were assessed at the time of marriage and at the 1st, 2nd, and 4th anniversaries with respect to frequency of heavy drinking and the extent of drinking problems and a variety of factors that have been found to be predictive of adult alcohol problems. The results indicated that antisocial characteristics, family history of alcoholism, negative affect, and alcohol expectancies were related to heavy drinking and alcohol problems at the time of marriage. Changes after marriage were predicted by the drinking of one's partner and of one's peers and by alcohol expectancies for social/physical pleasure for both men and women. In addition, the quality of the marriage was longitudinally protective from the experience of alcohol problems for both men and women, although it was not related to changes in heavy drinking.