The effect of past-year heavy drinking on alcohol-related aggression

The primary goal of this study was to determine the moderating effect of a history of heavy episodic drinking on the alcohol-aggression relation in men and women.

Participants were 310 (152 men and 158 women) healthy social drinkers between 21 and 35 years of age. Drinking history was operationalized as participants' average number of alcoholic drinks consumed per drinking occasion during the past year. Following the consumption of either an alcohol or a placebo beverage, participants were tested on a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm in which mild electric shocks were received from, and administered to, a fictitious opponent during a competitive task. Aggressive behavior was operationalized as the shock intensities administered to the fictitious opponent under conditions of low and high provocation.

Alcohol increased aggression only among highly provoked men who reported a history of heavy episodic drinking. A history of high-frequency drinking did not moderate the alcohol-aggression relation.

These findings highlight the importance of considering a history of heavy episodic drinking in the prediction of intoxicated aggression.