A 2-YEAR LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN VIOLENT ASSAULT AND SUBSTANCE USE IN WOMEN

Women experience alarming levels of physical and sexual assault, which may lead tp escalation of substance use. Reciprocally, evidence from cross-sectional studies indicates that substance use may increase risk of assault, To date, directionality of this relationship remains uncl ear This issue is addressed by the present 3-wave longitudinal study i n which a national probability sample of 3,006 women were followed for 2 years. Dependent measures were obtained at each wave of the study a nd included questions about lifetime and new assault status, alcohol a buse. and drug use. Wave 1 use of drugs, but not abuse of alcohol, inc reased odds of new assault in the: subsequent 2 years. Reciprocally, a fter a new assault, odds of both alcohol abuse and drug use were signi ficantly increased, even among women viith no previous use or assault history. For illicit drug use, findings support a vicious cycle relati onship in which substance use increases risk of future assault and ass ault increases risk of subsequent substance use.