Does distraction reduce the alcohol-aggression relation? A cognitive and behavioral test of the attention-allocation model

The Proximal Effect of Alcohol on Intimate Partner Violence: Comparing the Antecedents of Intoxicated and Sober Men's Violent Acts

Alcohol use is known to correlate with intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, yet little research examines how alcohol influences how the violence unfolds. The current study used sequential analysis to examine descriptions of past violent incidents and explore the behaviors that preceded men's perpetration of IPV. In accordance with the alcohol myopia model of alcohol use, it was hypothesized that intoxicated men would respond violently to a wide range of partner cues, whereas men who were sober would only react violently in response to the most threatening partner cues. Moreover, intoxicated men were expected to demonstrate less inhibition of violence to suppressor cues of the partners' distress as compared to sober men. Participants were 80 couples reporting male-to-female IPV within the past year. Female partners' descriptions of two past violent events were coded and entered into sequential analysis. Antecedents to the men's first violent action were examined. While sober men were likely to react violently to their partner's physical threat and perceived threat, intoxicate men did not. Sober men were less likely to become violent after their partners displayed distress cues, whereas there was no suppressor effect of women's distress for intoxicated men. The precursors of the violence of intoxicated men appears to be indiscriminate and unpredictable. Clinical interventions that rely on behavioral strategies or communication skills training are unlikely to be effective for those who have an unmanaged alcohol use disorder.

Associations Between Psychopathic Traits and Laboratory-Based Aggression: Moderating Effects of Provocation and Distraction

There are two distinct combinations of psychopathic traits (primary and secondary) that have been proposed to be a function of unique cognitive-affective deficits. This study sought to use theories of psychopathy to understand the factors that exacerbate (i.e., provocation) and attenuate (i.e., distraction) aggression in individuals high in psychopathic traits in a controlled laboratory task. Male undergraduates, who scored across the range of primary and secondary psychopathic traits, completed the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP; Taylor, 1967) under conditions of low and high provocation. Participants were also randomly assigned to either a distraction condition, in which they completed a distracting concurrent task, or a control condition, in which no such task was completed. Inconsistent with our prediction, results showed that regardless of condition, primary psychopathic traits were positively related to laboratory aggression. Consistent with our hypothesis, a positive association between secondary psychopathic traits and laboratory physical aggression was observed following high provocation among nondistracted participants; this association was significantly reduced among distracted participants. These results clarify the factors that contribute to aggression for individuals high in psychopathic traits and may provide directions for future intervention development.

A laboratory study of the effects of men's acute alcohol intoxication, perceptions of women's intoxication, and masculine gender role stress on the perpetration of sexual aggression

BACKGROUND

Although research has established an association between alcohol use and sexual assault, few studies have examined how characteristics of the perpetrator may influence sexual aggression depending upon whether alcohol is consumed by the perpetrator and/or the victim. This laboratory-based investigation was designed to disentangle the effects of individual differences in masculine gender role stress (MGRS) and the perpetration of sexual aggression as a function of (1) men's acute alcohol intoxication and (2) whether a woman was consuming alcohol or not.

METHOD

A community sample of 156 men participated in two laboratory sessions, during which they completed a self-report measure of MGRS (Session 1) and a modified version of the sexual imposition paradigm after consuming an alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage (Session 2). In this paradigm, participants and a male friend were told that an ostensible female participant had consumed or not consumed alcohol. They were also told that she did not wish to view sexual content. Participants were then provided the opportunity to make the female confederate view a sexually or non-sexually explicit film. Sexual aggression was operationalized by selection of the sexually explicit film.

RESULTS

A hierarchical logistic regression showed that men higher in MGRS who were intoxicated were (1) more likely than sober men to select the sexually explicit film when the woman was intoxicated and (2) less likely than sober men to select the sexually explicit film when the woman was sober.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that the perpetration of sexual aggression is most likely among men with higher MGRS when there is concordance in drinking (i.e., when either the man and woman are both drinking or are both not drinking).

Cognitive and Affective Mediators of Alcohol-Facilitated Intimate Partner Aggression

This multisite study examined whether aggressive cognitions and facial displays of negative affect and anger experienced during provocation mediated the association between alcohol intoxication and intimate partner aggression (IPA). Participants were 249 heavy drinkers (148 men, 101 women) with a recent history of IPA perpetration. Participants were randomly assigned to an Alcohol or No-Alcohol Control beverage condition and completed a shock-based aggression task involving apparent provocation by their intimate partner. During provocation, a hidden camera recorded participants' facial expressions and verbal articulations, which were later coded using the Facial Action Coding System and the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations paradigm. Results indicated that the positive association between alcohol intoxication and partner-directed physical aggression was mediated by participants' aggressive cognitions, but not by negative affect or anger facial expressions. These findings implicate aggressogenic cognitions as a mediating mechanism underlying the association between the acute effects of alcohol and IPA perpetration.

Alcohol, Affect, and Aggression: An Investigation of Alcohol's Effects Following Ostracism

OBJECTIVE

Ostracism is distressing to those who experience it and people are motivated to find ways to cope, including self-medication or aggression. However, we know little about how alcohol intoxication may affect individuals' reactions to ostracism. This study investigates predictions informed by Alcohol Myopia Theory to observe how alcohol influences changes to one's affect, basic needs fulfillment, and aggression following ostracism.

METHOD

Participants (N = 97) were randomly assigned to either consume an alcohol, placebo, or nonalcohol beverage, and then participate in a game that simulated ostracism. Following this, participants engaged in a task wherein they were able to aggress against an ostensible ostracizer. Affect and basic psychological needs were measured at baseline, post-ostracism, and post-aggression timepoints.

RESULTS

Results indicated that all groups reacted adversely to ostracism and experienced partial recovery toward baseline for negative and positive affect and basic psychological needs. Further, alcohol facilitated recovery across these outcomes post-aggression for participants who felt more intoxicated. Alcohol, relative to the control beverages, increased ostracizer-directed aggression intensity for low trait physically aggressive, but not highly aggressive, people.

CONCLUSION

This randomized study provides novel preliminary evidence suggesting that alcohol enhances aggressive urges toward ostracizers in those who are not typically aggressive. Those who feel more drunk when intoxicated, compared to those who feel less so, may experience greater recovery from ostracism after aggressing toward an ostracizer hinting at potentially pleasurable effects that must be replicated in future studies.

Breaking the link: Distraction from emotional cues reduces the association between trait disinhibition and reactive physical aggression

Research has implicated biased attention allocation toward emotional cues as a proximal mechanism in the association between trait disinhibition and physical aggression. The current study tested this putative cognitive mechanism by incentivizing a shift of attention from a provoking stimulus to a neutral stimulus during a laboratory aggression paradigm. Participants were 119 undergraduate men. They completed a questionnaire that assessed trait disinhibition, were randomly assigned to a distraction or no-distraction control condition, and completed a shock-based aggression task in which they received low and high provocation from a fictitious opponent. A significant positive association between trait disinhibition and physical aggression was found among non-distracted participants exposed to high, but not low, provocation. Distraction from provoking cues significantly attenuated this association. This study is among the first to provide experimental evidence of (a) the positive relation between trait disinhibition and laboratory-based physical aggression, and (b) a potential method for attenuating this association.

Problematic alcohol use and acute intoxication predict anger-related attentional biases: A test of the alcohol myopia theory

Previous research has demonstrated a significant association between alcohol and aggression. However, the precise mechanisms underlying this relationship have yet to be fully elucidated. In the present study, we examined alcohol's effects on an attentional bias toward aggressogenic cues as the first step in a possible mediation model of alcohol-facilitated intimate partner aggression. More specifically, we tested an interactive effect of problematic alcohol use and acute alcohol intoxication on an attentional bias toward anger words. Participants in this study were 249 male and female heavy drinkers from the community with a history of past-year intimate partner aggression perpetration who participated in an alcohol-administration laboratory study assessing the effect of alcohol intoxication on cognitive biases. Multiple linear regression was used to test the proposed moderation model. Acute alcohol intoxication moderated the effect of problematic alcohol use on an attentional bias toward anger, with this effect being stronger for individuals in the alcohol compared to no-alcohol control condition. These findings suggest that problematic drinkers may be more likely to attend to aggressogenic stimuli while acutely intoxicated, relative to when they are sober. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of Alcohol on Human Aggression

There is little debate that alcohol is a contributing cause of aggressive behavior. The extreme complexity of this relation, however, has been the focus of extensive theory and research. And, likely due to this complexity, evidence-based programs to prevent or reduce alcohol-facilitated aggression are quite limited. We integrate I3 Theory and Alcohol Myopia Theory to provide a framework that (1) organizes the myriad instigatory and inhibitory factors that moderate the effect of alcohol on aggression, and (2) highlights the mechanisms by which alcohol facilitates aggression among at-risk individuals. This integrative framework provides the basis for understanding the appropriate targets for prevention and intervention efforts and may serve as a catalyst for future research that seeks to inform intervention development.

A self-awareness intervention manipulation for heavy-drinking men's alcohol-related aggression toward women

OBJECTIVE

The primary aim of the present investigation was to directly examine a theoretically based, self-awareness intervention manipulation for at-risk men's alcohol-related aggression toward women. This study was developed in response to a call in the literature for research to (a) empirically investigate specific intervention techniques that reduce aggression, and (b) identify in whom such interventions will have the greatest impact.

METHOD

A community sample (77% African American) of 94 heavy-drinking males age 21 years and older (M = 35.61) completed a battery of questionnaires that assessed alcohol consumption and perpetration of aggression toward women during the past year as well as dispositional masculine gender role stress. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention manipulation designed to focus attention onto inhibitory, self-awareness cues, or a control group. Following beverage consumption, participants were provoked with a gender-relevant provocation from a female confederate and participants' physical aggression was measured using a shock-based aggression task.

RESULTS

Men who received the intervention manipulation, relative to control, enacted significantly less alcohol-related physical aggression toward the female confederate. This finding held for men who reported lower, but not higher, levels of masculine gender role stress.

CONCLUSION

Findings support the development of interventions that aim to redirect intoxicated men's attention toward stimuli that are nonaggressive, nonprovocative, or prohibitive of aggressive behavior. However, caution is warranted that en masse dissemination of such interventions may not impact the most at-risk men for alcohol-related violence toward women. (PsycINFO Database Record

Problematic Drinking Mediates the Association Between Urgency and Intimate Partner Aggression During Acute Intoxication

BACKGROUND

This study tested a moderated-mediation model whereby dimensions of impulsivity (i.e., negative urgency, positive urgency, sensation seeking, lack of premeditation, and lack of perseverance) differentially predict perpetration of physical intimate partner aggression (IPA) through problematic drinking in intoxicated and nonintoxicated heavy drinkers.

METHODS

Participants were 249 heavy drinkers (148 men and 101 women) with a recent history of psychological and/or physical IPA perpetration toward their current partner recruited from 2 metropolitan U.S. cities. Participants completed questionnaires that assessed impulsivity and problematic drinking, consumed an Alcohol or No-Alcohol Control beverage, and completed a shock-based aggression task in which they were ostensibly provoked by their intimate partner.

RESULTS

Results indicated an indirect effect of urgency on IPA through problematic drinking that was significantly more positive in intoxicated individuals.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings implicate a tendency to act rashly in response to emotions as the specific dimension of impulsivity associated with problematic drinking, which in turn exacerbates risk for IPA perpetration. Results also suggest acute effects of alcohol are key in facilitating this mechanism.

Reducing alcohol-related aggression: Effects of a self-awareness manipulation and locus of control in heavy drinking males

Alcohol Myopia Theory (AMT; Steele & Josephs, 1990) purports that alcohol facilitates aggression by narrowing attentional focus onto salient and instigatory cues common to conflict situations. However, few tests of its counterintuitive prediction - that alcohol may decrease aggression when inhibitory cues are most salient - have been conducted. The present study examined whether an AMT-inspired self-awareness intervention manipulation would reduce heavy drinking men's intoxicated aggression toward women and also examined whether a relevant individual variable, locus of control, would moderate this effect. Participants were 102 intoxicated male heavy drinkers who completed a self-report measure of locus of control and completed the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (Taylor, 1967). In this task, participants administered electric shocks to, and received electric shocks from, a fictitious female opponent while exposed to an environment saturated with or devoid of self-awareness cues. Results indicated that the self-awareness manipulation was associated with less alcohol-related aggression toward the female confederate for men who reported an internal, but not an external, locus of control. Findings support AMT as a theoretical framework to inform preventative interventions for alcohol-related aggression and highlight the importance of individual differences in receptivity to such interventions.

Mechanisms of Alcohol-Facilitated Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a critical public health problem that requires clear and testable etiological models that may translate into effective interventions. While alcohol intoxication and a pattern of heavy alcohol consumption are robust correlates of IPV perpetration, there has been limited research that examines the mediating mechanisms of how alcohol potentiates IPV. We provide a theoretical and methodological framework for researchers to conceptualize how alcohol intoxication causes IPV, and propose innovative laboratory methods that directly test mediational mechanisms. We conclude by discussing how these innovations may lead to the development of interventions to prevent or reduce alcohol-related IPV.

Are You Insulting Me? Exposure to Alcohol Primes Increases Aggression Following Ambiguous Provocation

Considerable research has shown that alcohol consumption can increase aggression and produce extremes in other social behaviors. Although most theories posit that such effects are caused by pharmacological impairment of cognitive processes, recent research indicates that exposure to alcohol-related constructs, in the absence of consumption, can produce similar effects. Here we tested the hypothesis that alcohol priming is most likely to affect aggression in the context of ambiguous provocation. Experiment 1 showed that exposure to alcohol primes increased aggressive retaliation but only when an initial provocation was ambiguous; unambiguous provocation elicited highly aggressive responses regardless of prime exposure. Experiment 2 showed that alcohol prime exposure effects are relatively short-lived and that perceptions of the provocateur's hostility mediated effects of prime exposure on aggression. These findings suggest modification and extension of existing models of alcohol-induced aggression.

Effects of Thought Suppression on Provoked Men's Alcohol-Related Physical Aggression in the Laboratory

OBJECTIVE

This study utilized a comprehensive theoretical approach to provide the first data on the impact of thought suppression on provoked men's alcohol-related aggression.

METHOD

A diverse community sample (58% African-American) of males between the ages of 21 and 35 (M = 25.25) were randomly assigned to one of two beverage conditions (i.e., alcohol, no-alcohol control). Following beverage consumption, participants were provoked via reception of electric shocks and a verbal insult from a fictitious male opponent. Participants' physical aggression was measured using a shock-based aggression task.

RESULTS

Results indicated that acute alcohol intoxication significantly increased physical aggression among lower, but not higher, thought suppressing men.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that, under conditions of interpersonal provocation, alcohol intoxication produces a myopic focus on hostile thoughts and angry affect in lower, but not higher, suppression men. This pattern of results provides support for the durability of the alcohol myopia effect and highlights the need for continued examination of alcohol's role in the disruption of protective factors for men's aggression. It is important for research to continue to identify modifiable cognitive variables that influence self-regulation of behavior; however, it is imperative that researchers consider the extent to which these variables withstand alcohol's effects.

Paranoid thinking, suspicion, and risk for aggression: a neurodevelopmental perspective

This article represents an effort to extend our understanding of paranoia or suspicion and its development by integrating findings across clinical, developmental, and neuroscience literatures. We first define "paranoia" or paranoid thought and examine its prevalence across typically and atypically developing individuals and theoretical perspectives regarding its development and maintenance. We then briefly summarize current ideas regarding the neural correlates of adaptive, appropriately trusting interpersonal perception, social cognition, and behavior across development. Our focus shifts subsequently to examining in normative and atypical developmental contexts the neural correlates of several component cognitive processes thought to contribute to paranoid thinking: (a) attention bias for threat, (b) jumping to conclusions biases, and (c) hostile intent attribution biases. Where possible, we also present data regarding independent links between these cognitive processes and aggressive behavior. By examining data regarding the behavioral and neural correlates of varied cognitive processes that are likely components of a paranoid thinking style, we hope to advance both theoretical and empirical research in this domain.

Liquid courage or liquid fear: alcohol intoxication and anxiety facilitate physical aggression

Participants were 138 male social drinkers between 18 and 30 years of age from a university community in the southeastern United States in 2000. Trait and state anxiety was measured using the Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Facial Action Coding System, respectively. Participants consumed an alcoholic or nonalcoholic control beverage and completed a shock-based aggression task. Regression analysis indicated that alcohol-facilitated elevations in anxiety mediated the relation between alcohol consumption and aggression and that trait anxiety and physical provocation moderated this effect. Implications and limitations of this study are noted and future research directions are suggested.

Failure to Consider Future Consequences Increases the Effects of Alcohol on Aggression

The failure to consider the future consequences of one's behavior is a major risk factor for aggression. Aggressive people tend to act first, and think later. Some people focus on the -here and now rather than on the future, a tendency measured by the Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC) scale (Strathman, Gleicher, Boninger, & Edwards, 1994). Alcohol intoxication is a neuro-biological variable that produces similar effects. Participants in the present experiment completed the CFC scale and then consumed either an alcohol or a placebo beverage. Next, they competed against a same-sex ostensible partner on an interpersonally adversarial competitive task in which the winner could administer electric shocks to the loser (the aggression measure). As expected, aggression was highest in intoxicated persons with low CFC scores. Being unconcerned about the future consequences of one's actions, in conjunction with acute alcohol intoxication, combine in a pernicious manner to increase aggression.