Drug abuse and intimate partner violence: a comparative study of opioid-dependent fathers

Because very little is known about the coparenting relationships of drug-abusing men, this comparative study was designed to examine the lifetime prevalence and recent frequency of intimate partner violence in the coparenting relationships of 106 fathers enrolled in methadone maintenance treatment. When compared with 118 community controls, the opioid-dependent fathers reported greater prevalence of physical, sexual, and psychological aggression directed at the mother of their youngest biological child over the course of the relationship. They also reported more frequent physical, sexual, and psychological aggression directed at the mother during the previous year. Similarly, the opioid-dependent fathers reported both greater prevalence of physical and sexual aggression directed at them by the mother of their youngest child over the course of the relationship and more frequent sexual aggression directed at them over the previous year. The results highlight the need for clinicians to consider risk for intimate partner violence in coparenting relationships when planning family-oriented intervention designed to meet the needs of fathers, mothers, and children affected by chronic drug abuse.