Childhood ADHD Potentiates the Association Between Problematic Drinking and Intimate Partner Violence

Excessive alcohol consumption increases risk of perpetrating intimate partner violence (IPV). ADHD is associated with problematic drinking and IPV, but it is unclear whether problem drinkers with ADHD are more likely than those without ADHD to perpetrate IPV.

We compared the strength of association between problem drinking trajectories and IPV perpetration among 19- to 24-year-old men with ( n = 241) and without ( n = 180) childhood ADHD.

Men with ADHD who reported higher heavy episodic drinking or alcohol use problems at age 19, and slower decreases in alcohol use problems from age 19 to 24, were more likely to perpetrate IPV than problem drinkers without ADHD, among whom the same associations were non-significant. Associations between problem drinking and IPV were not attenuated in adults with ADHD upon controlling for antisocial personality disorder.

Study findings highlight the heightened risk of problem drinkers with ADHD perpetrating IPV.