The effects of a provocation on aggression for three types of alcohol users

Investigated the effects of a provocation on aggression for three types of alcohol users. The Alcohol Use Inventory was used to select 30 light-moderate and 30 moderate drinkers. Thirty abstainers were selected as a control group. Half of each group was assigned randomly to one of two treatments, a provocation or a no-provocation. After treatment, each S completed the Adjective Rating Form (ARF) verbal aggression scales and the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist (MAACL). The results of this study indicated that, for both instruments, the provocation elicited significantly more feelings of hostility and verbal aggression than the no-provocation. However, there were no significant level effects, nor was there a significant interaction between level of drinking and presence of a provocation. The failure to find significant level effects was attributed to the abstainers' scores. With the abstainer category excluded from the analysis, additional findings resulted in significant level effects for the MAACL hostility scales, but not for the ARF verbal aggression scales. It was recommended that future studies investigate risk factors of abstinence and eliminate the abstainer category as a control.