Intimate partner violence and drinking patterns among white, black, and Hispanic couples in the US

Purpose. Using reports fi om both partners, this study estimated prevalence rates of intimate intimate partner violence (IPV) among white black, and H ispanic couples in the U.S., and assessed the contribution of drinking patt erns, psychosocial, and other sociodemographic factors to the risk of partn er violence, Methods. A multistage area probability sample consisting of 55 5 white, 358 black, and 527 Hispanic couples in the U.S. household populati on was interviewed in 1995. Logistic regression analyses revealed that pred ictors of IPV vary by ethnicity Results. Rates of male-to-female (MFPV) and female-to-male partner violence (FMPV) were highest among black couples (2 3% and 30%), followed by Hispanic (17% and 21%), and white couples (12% and 16%). Between 27 percent and 41 percent of the men, and 4 percent and 24 p ercent of the women were drinking at the time of the violent incident. Impl ications. Black and Hispanic couples are at higher risk for IPV than white couples and should be targeted for prevention intervention. The interrelati onships among IPV alcohol consumption, and ethnicity are complex. These fin dings suggest that future attempts at modeling IPV should be ethnically sen sitive and, ideally include separate analyses of each ethnic group.