Abstract
Purpose
Although alcohol-related intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health problem, the mechanisms underlying this association are poorly understood. For instance, prior research has shown differences in distressed violent (DV) and distressed nonviolent (DNV) couples’ demand/withdraw communication and the extent to which they become emotionally flooded (i.e., physiologically aroused) in response to conflict. Additionally, alcohol use is associated with increased demand/withdraw communication, IPV, and emotional flooding. Therefore, the present study sought to clarify the association between demand/withdraw communication and emotional flooding among relationally couples who use alcohol and who do and do not experience IPV.
Methods
Relationally distressed couples (Mage = 30.1 years) reported on their physical aggression, demand/withdraw communication, emotional flooding, and total number of drinks during the past six months. Couples were denoted as DV (N = 58) if at least one partner reported IPV and DNV (N = 29) if neither partner reported IPV. Actor-partner interdependence modeling was used to test whether couple type (DV versus DNV) moderates the link between demand/withdraw behavior and emotional flooding.
Results
With one exception, alcohol use was unrelated to any of the processes under investigation in the current study. Moreover, men’s and women’s report of a woman-demand/man-withdraw pattern and man-demand/woman-withdraw pattern, respectively, were positively associated with each partner’s own emotional flooding. Couple type (DV vs DNV) did not moderate these associations.
Conclusion
The present results highlight the need for sensitive measures that can capture the nuanced processes that underlie IPV in couples who use alcohol.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Althouse, A. D. (2021). Post Hoc power: Not empowering, just misleading. The Journal of Surgical Research, 259, A3–A6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2019.10.049
Arce, R., Arias, E., Novo, M., & Fariña, F. (2020). Are interventions with batterers effective? A meta-analytical review. Psychosocial Intervention, 29(3), 153–164. https://doi.org/10.5093/pi2020a11
Babcock, J., Waltz, J., Jacobson, N., & Gottman, J. M. (1993). Power and violence: The relation between communication patterns, power discrepancies, and domestic violence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61(1), 40–50. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.61.1.40
Babcock, J., Green, C., & Robie, C. (2004). Does batterers’ treatment work? A meta-analytic review of domestic violence treatment. Clinical Psychology Review, 23(8), 1023–1053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2002.07.001
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.
Berns, S. B., Jacobson, N. S., & Gottman, J. M. (1999a). Demand/withdraw interaction patterns between different types of batterers and their spouses. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 25(3), 337–347. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.1999.tb00252.x
Berns, S. B., Jacobson, N. S., & Gottman, J. M. (1999b). Demand-withdraw interaction in couples with a violent husband. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67(5), 666–674. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006x.67.5.666
Busby, D. M., Christensen, C., Crane, D. R., & Larson, J. H. (1995). A revision of the dyadic adjustment scale for use with distressed and nondistressed couples: Construct hierarchy and multidimensional scales. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 21(3), 289–308.
Cafferky, B. M., Mendez, M., Anderson, J. R., & Stith, S. M. (2018). Substance use and intimate partner violence: A meta-analytic review. Psychology of Violence, 8(1), 110–131. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000074
Carey, K. B. (1997). Reliability and validity of the time-line follow-back interview among psychiatric outpatients: A preliminary report. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 11, 26.
Chan, K. L. (2011). Gender differences in self-reports of intimate partner violence: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16(2), 167–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2011.02.008
Cheng, S. Y., Davis, M., Jonson-Reid, M., & Yaeger, L. (2019). Compared to what? A meta-analysis of batterer intervention studies using nontreated controls or comparisons. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 1524838019865927. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838019865927
Christensen, A., & Sullaway, M. (1984). Communication patterns questionnaire. Unpublished questionnaire.
Clements, K., & Schumacher, J. A. (2010). Perceptual biases in social cognition as potential moderators of the relationship between alcohol and intimate partner violence: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15(5), 357–368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2010.06.004
Crane, C. A., Godleski, S. A., Przybyla, S. M., Schlauch, R. C., & Testa, M. (2016). The proximal effects of acute alcohol consumption on male-to-female aggression: A meta-analytic review of the experimental literature. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 17(5), 520–531. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838015584374
Crenshaw, A. O., Christensen, A., Baucom, D. H., Epstein, N. B., & Baucom, B. (2017). Revised scoring and improved reliability for the Communication Patterns Questionnaire. Psychological Assessment, 29(7), 913–925. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000385
Curtin, J. J., & Fairchild, B. A. (2003). Alcohol and cognitive control: Implications for regulation of behavior during response conflict. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112(3), 424. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843x.112.3.424
Curtis, A., Vandenberg, B., Mayshak, R., Coomber, K., Hyder, S., Walker, A., Liknaitzky, P., & Miller, P. G. (2019). Alcohol use in family, domestic and other violence: Findings from a cross-sectional survey of the Australian population. Drug and Alcohol Review, 38(4), 349–358. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.12925
Eldridge, K. A., & Christensen, A. (2002). Demand-withdraw communication during couple conflict: A review and analysis. In P. Noller & J. A. Feeney (Eds.), Understanding marriage: Developments in the study of couple interaction (pp. 289–322). New York, NY.
Exum, M. L. (2006). Alcohol and aggression: An integration of findings from experimental studies. Journal of Criminal Justice, 34(2), 131–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2006.01.008
Fairbairn, C. E., & Testa, M. (2016). Relationship quality and alcohol-related social reinforcement during couples interaction. Clinical Psychological Science, 5(1), 74–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702616649365
Feldman, C. M., & Ridley, C. A. (2000). The role of conflict-based communication responses and outcomes in male domestic violence toward female partners. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 17(4–5), 552–573. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407500174005
Fink, B. C. (2014). A behavioral learning model of intimate partner violence: How learning history, couple context and potentiating conditions contribute to IPV incidents. Annals of Forensic Research and Analysis, 1(2), 1009–1018.
Fink, B. C., Howell, B. C., Salway, S., Cavanagh, J. F., Hamilton, D. A., Claus, E. D., & Frost, M. E. (2020). Frontal alpha asymmetry in alcohol-related intimate partner violence. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 14, 1209–1217. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsz101
Foran, H. M., Lorber, M., Malik, J., Heyman, R. E., & Slep, A. (2020). The intimate partner flooding scale. Assessment, 27(6), 1151–1162. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191118755911
Fowers, B. J., Laurenceau, J. P., Penfield, R. D., Cohen, L. M., Lang, S. F., Owenz, M. B., & Pasipanodya, E. (2016). Enhancing relationship quality measurement: The development of the Relationship Flourishing Scale. Journal of Family Psychology, 30(8), 997. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000263
Gottman, J. M. (1993). A theory of marital dissolution and stability. Journal of Family Psychology, 7, 57–75. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.7.1.57
Gottman, J. M. (1994). What predicts divorce? The relationship between marital processes and marital outcomes. Routledge.
Gottman, J. M. (1999). The marriage clinic: A scientifically based marital therapy. Norton.
Halmos, M. B., Leone, R. M., Parrott, D. J., & Eckhardt, C. I. (2018). Relationship Dissatisfaction, Emotion Regulation, and Physical Intimate Partner Aggression in Heavy-Drinking, Conflict-Prone Couples: A Dyadic Analysis. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518801019
Harmon-Jones, E., & Gable, P. A. (2018). On the role of asymmetric frontal cortical activity in approach and withdrawal motivation: An updated review of the evidence. Psychophysiology, 55(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12879
Holtzworth-Munroe, A., Smutzler, N., & Stuart, G. L. (1998). Demand and withdraw communication among couples experiencing husband violence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66(5), 731–743. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.66.5.731
Horne, K., Henshall, K., & Golden, C. (2020). Intimate partner violence and deficits in executive function. Aggression and Violent Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2020.101412
Ledermann, T., & Kenny, D. A. (2017). Analyzing dyadic data with multilevel modeling versus structural equation modeling: A tale of two methods. Journal of Family Psychology, 31(4), 442–452. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000290
Ledermann, T., Rudaz, M., & Grob, A. (2017). Analysis of group composition in multimember multigroup data. Personal Relationships, 24(2), 242–264. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12176
Leonard, K. E., & Quigley, B. M. (2017). Thirty years of research show alcohol to be a cause of intimate partner violence: Future research needs to identify who to treat and how to treat them. Drug and Alcohol Review, 36(1), 7–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.12434
Levenson, R. W., Sher, K. J., Grossman, L. M., Newman, J., & Newlin, D. B. (1980). Alcohol and stress response dampening: Pharmacological effects, expectancy, and tension reduction. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 89(4), 528–538.
Malik, J., Heyman, R. E., & Smith Slep, A. M. (2020). Emotional flooding in response to negative affect in couple conflicts: Individual differences and correlates. Journal of Family Psychology, 34(2), 145–154. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000584
Mason, R., & O’Rinn, S. E. (2014). Co-occurring intimate partner violence, mental health, and substance use problems: A scoping review. Global Health Action, 7, 24815. https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v7.24815
McCaul, M. E., Roach, D., Hasin, D. S., Weisner, C., Chang, G., & Sinha, R. (2019). Alcohol and women: A brief overview. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 43(5), 774–779. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.13985
O’Leary, K. D., Slep, A. M. S., & O’Leary, S. G. (2007). Multivariate models of men’s and women’s partner aggression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75(5), 752–764. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.75.5.752
Parrott, D. J., Swartout, K. M., Eckhardt, C. I., & Subramani, O. S. (2017). Deconstructing the associations between executive functioning, problematic alcohol use and intimate partner aggression: A dyadic analysis. Drug and Alcohol Review, 36(1), 88–96. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.12454
Peterson, C., Kearns, M. C., McIntosh, W. L., Estefan, L. F., Nicolaidis, C., McCollister, K. E., Gordon, A., & Florence, C. (2018). Lifetime Economic Burden of Intimate Partner Violence Among U.S. Adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 55(4), 433–444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2018.04.049
Pickover, A. M., Lipinski, A. J., Dodson, T. S., Tran, H. N., Woodward, M. J., & Beck, J. G. (2017). Demand/withdraw communication in the context of intimate partner violence: Implications for psychological outcomes. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 52, 95–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2017.07.002
Quigley, B. M., Levitt, A., Derrick, J. L., Testa, M., Houston, R. J., & Leonard, K. E. (2018). Alcohol, self-regulation and partner physical aggression: Actor-partner effects over a three-year time frame. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 12, 130. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00130
R Core Team (2021). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/
Rentscher, K. E., Rohrbaugh, M. J., Shoham, V., & Mehl, M. R. (2013). Asymmetric partner pronoun use and demand-withdraw interaction in couples coping with health problems. Journal of Family Psychology, 27(5), 691–701. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034184
Rosseel, Y. (2012). Lavaan: An R package for structural equation modeling. Journal of Statistical Software, 48(2), 1–36.
Sagrestano, L. M., Heavey, C. L., & Christensen, A. (1999). Perceived power and physical violence in marital conflict. Journal of Social Issues, 55(1), 65–79.
Sanri, Ç., Halford, W. K., Rogge, R. D., & von Hippel, W. (2021). The couple flourishing measure. Family Process, 60(2), 457–476. https://doi.org/10.1037/cfp0000203
Sanz-Martin, A., Guevara, M. Á., Amezcua, C., Santana, G., & Hernández-González, M. (2011). Effects of red wine on the electrical activity and functional coupling between prefrontal-parietal cortices in young men. Appetite, 57(1), 84–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2011.04.004
Shorey, R. C., Stuart, G. L., Brem, M. J., & Parrot, D. J. (2019). Advancing an integrated theory of sexual minority alcohol-related intimate partner violence perpetration. Journal of Family Violence, 34, 357–364. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-018-0031-z
Sobell, L. C., Brown, J., Leo, G. I., & Sobell, M. B. (1996). The reliability of the Alcohol Timeline Followback when administered by telephone and by computer. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 42(1), 49–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/0376-8716(96)01263-x
Sobell, L. C., & Sobell, M. B. (1992). Timeline follow-back: A technique for assessing self-reported alcohol consumption. In R. Z. Litten & J. P. Allen (Eds.), Measuring alcohol consumption: Psychosocial and Biochemical Methods (pp. 41–72). Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0357-5_3
Sotskova, A., Woodin, E. M., & Gou, L. H. (2015). Hostility, flooding, and relationship satisfaction: Predicting trajectories of psychological aggression across the transition to parenthood. Aggressive Behavior, 41(2), 134–148. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21570
Steele, C. M., & Josephs, R. A. (1990). Alcohol myopia. Its prized and dangerous effects. The American Psychologist, 45(8), 921–933. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066x.45.8.921
Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Boney-McCoy, S., & Sugarman, D. B. (1996). The revised conflict tactics scales (CTS2): Development and preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283–316. https://doi.org/10.1177/019251396017003001
Testa, M., & Derrick, J. L. (2014). A daily process examination of the temporal association between alcohol use and verbal and physical aggression in community couples. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 28(1), 127–138. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032988
Testa, M., Crane, C. A., Quigley, B. M., Levitt, A., & Leonard, K. E. (2014). Effects of administered alcohol on intimate partner interactions in a conflict resolution paradigm. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 75(2), 249–258. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2014.75.24
Townshend, J. M., & Duka, T. (2003). Mixed emotions: Alcoholics’ impairments in the recognition of specific emotional facial expressions. Neuropsychologia, 41(7), 773–782. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0028-3932(02)00284-1
Vitoria-Estruch, S., Romero-Martínez, A., Lila, M., & Moya-Albiol, L. (2018). Differential cognitive profiles of intimate partner violence perpetrators based on alcohol consumption. Alcohol, 70, 61–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2018.01.006
Watkins, L. E., DiLillo, D., & Maldonado, R. C. (2015). The interactive effects of emotion regulation and alcohol intoxication on lab-based intimate partner aggression. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 29(3), 653–663. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000074
Woolf-King, S. E., Conroy, A. A., Fritz, K., Johnson, M. O., Hosegood, V., van Rooyen, H., Darbes, L., & McGrath, N. (2019). Alcohol use and relationship quality among South African couples. Substance Use & Misuse, 54(4), 651–660. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2018.1531428
Funding
This research was supported in part by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the National Institutes of Health (AA022367) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (UL1TR001449 and KL2TR001448). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Biesen, J.N., Orban, D., Ford, T. et al. Contributions of Demand/Withdraw Processes and Alcohol Consumption on Emotional Flooding in Distressed Violent versus Distressed Non-Violent Couples. J Fam Viol 38, 869–882 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00419-0
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00419-0