A dyadic examination of alcohol use and intimate partner aggression among women in same-sex relationships

Despite considerable evidence linking alcohol use and intimate partner aggression among mixed-sex couples, scant research has examined this association in same-sex couples using a dyadic framework. The aim of the present study was to examine associations between one's own and their partner's alcohol use (i.e., drinks per week, hazardous alcohol use) and intimate partner aggression (physical, psychological) perpetration while accounting for the interdependence among partners in alcohol use. Participants were 326 women (M-age = 27.57, SD = 3.65) from 163 female-female couples who independently completed measures of drinks per week, hazardous alcohol use, psychological intimate partner aggression victimization and perpetration, and physical intimate partner aggression victimization and perpetration. Actor-partner interdependence structural equation models found that (1) actor drinks per week were positively associated with one's own physical assault perpetration (2) actor hazardous alcohol use was positively associated with one's own physical assault and psychological aggression perpetration and (3) partner drinks per week and hazardous alcohol use were positively associated with actor's psychological aggression perpetration. No other significant effects were detected. Collectively, findings highlight the nuanced relationship between alcohol use and intimate partner aggression among same-sex female couples and suggest that one's own alcohol use is associated with intimate partner psychological and physical aggression perpetration. In contrast, the only partner effect was partner's alcohol use in association with actor's psychological aggression perpetration. These findings differ from prior research with heterosexual couples and underscore the need for future research with same-sex couples rather than attempts to generalize findings across populations.