Prescription Opiate Misuse and IPV Perpetration Among Young Men

Background and purpose: Researchers have consistently demonstrated a relation between drug and alcohol abuse and intimate partner violence (Moore et al., 2008). However, the relationship between opioid use and intimate partner violence is less clear. A handful of studies have examined the association between opioid use and IPV perpetration, but most have been among clinical samples (e.g., men in a methadone treatment clinic or a court-mandated substance abuse treatment program) rather than community samples. In a review of research on the association between substance use and perpetration of family violence, Choenni et al (2017) call for more research on the association between opioid use and family violence and specifically for researchers to consider other risk factors such as comorbid psychiatric disorders in the relation between opioid use and violence. The purpose of this study is to examine the relation between prescription opiate misuse and IPV perpetration among a nationally representative sample of young men aged 18-35.

Methods: The sample was recruited through the GfK Group (formerly Knowledge Networks) Knowledge Panel, which is a probability-based web panel designed to be representative of the United States. We analyzed data from 839 men who reported ever having been in a relationship (63.9% white, 19.5% Latino, 9.6% Black, and 7.0% another race). Participants responded to questions about IPV perpetration, depression, alcohol abuse, marijuana use, illegal drug use, and prescription opiate misuse. Descriptive statistics (means and frequencies) were calculated for all study variables. Multivariate logistic regression was used to test whether prescription opiate misuse is related to IPV perpetration after controlling for demographic factors, depression, and alcohol and other drug use.

Results: Overall, 19.2% of the sample reported at least one incident of IPV perpetration during their current or most recent relationship. Prescription opiate misuse emerged as a significant predictor of IPV perpetration (Odds ratio = 1.94, p = .002) even after accounting for ethnicity, income, depression, alcohol abuse, marijuana use, and illegal drug use. In other words, a one unit increase in prescription opiate misuse was associated with a nearly two-fold increase in IPV perpetration.

Conclusions and implications: The results of this study suggest that prescription opiate misuse may be a risk factor for IPV perpetration even after accounting for other factors associated with drug use. Therefore, social workers engaged in substance abuse treatment and especially opiate abuse treatment should consider including IPV prevention as part of their treatment plan, and social workers focused on IPV prevention should support efforts to prevent and treat substance abuse.