A longitudinal study in the September 2003 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research has found that black and Hispanic couples are two to three times more likely to report male-to-female and female-to-male partner violence than white couples, even after statistically controlling for socio-demographic and psychosocial variables, including alcohol consumption.
Researchers collected initial data for this study in 1995, surveying 1,635 married or cohabitating couples 18 years of age or older and living in households in the United States.
In 2000, a follow-up survey reached 1,025 of these same couples, including 406 white, 232 black, and 387 Hispanic couples. Specific risk factors examined included male and female reports of a history of childhood abuse, exposure to parental violence, impulsivity, alcohol problems, frequency of drinking five or more drinks per occasion, volume of alcohol consumed per week in average standard drinks, approval of marital aggression, and male-to-female and female-to-male partner violence at baseline.
"We found higher rates of partner violence in ethnic minority groups," said Craig A. Field, a professor at The University of Texas Houston School of Public Health, Dallas Regional Campus, and corresponding author for the study. "Black and Hispanic couples reported at least twice the prevalence rate of both male-to-female and female-to-male partner violence."
White couples reported rates of male-to-female and female-to-male partner violence at eight and 10 percent, respectively. In contrast, black couples reported rates of 20 percent and 22 percent, respectively; Hispanic couples reported rates of 21 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
"The risk factors for male-to-female and female-to-male partner violence, however, appear to vary across ethnic groups," said Field. "For example, drinking patterns may be a significant risk factor for the development of partner violence across time among white couples, while impulsivity may be a significant risk factor for its development among ethnic minorities. These results suggest that … there is a complex interaction between ethnicity and individual attributes of the couples."
Part Two: Alcohol Key Risk Factor
