Binge drinking and violence against intimate partners in Russia

This study is the first to provide information on the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) and binge drinking among Russian university students. Using data from 500 (58% female) university students from the four Russian sites of the International Dating Violence Study, we found gender differences in rates of IPV perpetration and in the association between binge drinking and IPV. Specifically, more females than males perpetrated IPV, and the associations between binge drinking and IPV were stronger for the female students than for the male students. In addition, antisocial traits and behavior (ATSB) were significantly related to both binge drinking and IPV perpetration for males and females. For males, the relatively weak associations between binge drinking and IPV perpetration disappeared once ASTB was accounted for. For females, the relationship decreased but remained significant when ATSB was statistically controlled. Path analyses confirmed that this pattern of relationships would be consistent with ATSB serving as a partial mediator between binge drinking and IPV perpetration. However, other alternative mediation and moderation models for the relationships between binge drinking, IPV perpetration, and ATSB could not be ruled out with this one-wave correlational study.