Alcohol-Involved Family and Domestic Violence Reported to Police in Australia.

Family and domestic violence (FDV) is a significant social issue that causes major harm across Australia. Alcohol has been identified as a contributing factor to FDV, and as such increased understanding of the role of alcohol in police-reported FDV incidents may provide the basis for developing specific clinical and forensic approaches. This study aims to identify the key correlates of alcohol-related FDV within police-reported FDV incidence. Data sourced from several states and territories across Australia were used to profile demographic and personal factors involved in police-reported FDV incidents, and to identify the types of incidents involving alcohol. For each state, three separate binary regressions were conducted for family violence, intimate partner violence, and FDV incidents in which alcohol was involved. Between 24% and 54% of FDV incidents reported to police were classified as alcohol-related. Although there appeared to be an association between relative socioeconomic disadvantage and an incident being alcohol-related, this association varied across states. Where victim and offender data were available, offenders were significantly more likely to be alcohol-affected than victims. Alcohol-related FDV incidents were also twice as likely to involve severe physical violence including injuries that were life threatening, as well as an increased likelihood of recidivism. This study demonstrates that alcohol plays a substantial role in police-reported FDV across Australia. It also demonstrates that other factors such as drug use, breach of orders, and repeat offending are associated with alcohol involvement across family violence and intimate partner violence.

Combined alcohol and energy drink use: motivations as predictors of consumption patterns, risk of alcohol dependence, and experience of injury and aggression.

BACKGROUND: Coconsumption of alcohol with energy drinks (AED) is becoming increasingly popular among adolescents and young adults and has been associated with a range of harms. Motivations related to determined drunkenness and hedonistic drinking are potentially important in explaining both alcohol and AED consumption, given that a relationship has been identified between AED use and heavy alcohol consumption. This study aimed to explore motives for combined AED consumption, as well as their relationship with alcohol dependence and experiences of harm and aggression. METHODS: Students (n = 594) enrolled at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia, completed an anonymous online survey in 2012. Approximately two-thirds of the sample (66.5%) were female, and the mean age was 22.3 (SD = 4.5), consistent with 2012 Deakin University enrollment. RESULTS: Principal axis factor analysis of 14 items measuring motivations for AED use identified 4 factors, categorized as "hedonistic," "social," "energy/endurance," and "intoxication-reduction" motives. Multinomial and binary logistic regression analyses demonstrated that hedonistic motives for AED use significantly predicted increases in alcohol and energy drink coconsumption during AED episodes, risk of alcohol dependence, as well as experiencing harm and aggression. Intoxication-reduction motives significantly predicted harm outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Hedonistic motives specific to sensation and pleasure ideals are implicated in negative consequences associated with coconsumption of alcohol and energy drinks. Further, consumers who reported using AEDs to reduce alcohol intoxication were at increased risk of negative outcomes, a finding indicating that consumer knowledge of the effects of AED use may be limited.