NCJ Number
165190
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1997) Pages: 75-83
Date Published
1997
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Because current research suggests that a husband's substance abuse is correlated with the severity of physical abuse and the woman's decision to leave a violent situation, this study compared women's reports of substance abuse by partners using a brief measure of polydrug and alcohol abuse, the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI), and the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS).
Abstract
Data were analyzed for 25 recovery couples and 25 nonrecovery couples. The 25 recovery couples were chosen from various recovery programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, to ensure a significant number of males would have a drug or alcohol abuse history. The 25 nonrecovery couples did not specify whether they were using any type of substance at the outset of testing. Correlations for all 50 couples between the male's reported drug use and the female's report of her partner's drug use were significant on the SASSI and on all but one of the CTS scales. They ranged on SASSI from 0.73 to 0.33 and on CTS from 0.31 to 0.06. Findings suggest the SASSI and possibly the CTS are valuable tools for assessing women's reports of their partner's substance abuse. Further research using larger sample sizes and more clearly defined groups is suggested to clarify the validity and generalizability of male and female reports of substance abuse and domestic violence. 16 references and 3 tables