title: A 2-year longitudinal analysis of the relationships between violent assault and substance use in women.
abstract: Women experience alarming levels of physical and sexual assault, which may lead to 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 unclear. This issue is addressed by the present 3-wave longitudinal study in which a national probability sample of 3,006 women were followed for 2 years. Dependent measures were obtained at each wave of the study and included questions about lifetime and new assault status, alcohol abuse, and drug use. Wave 1 use of drugs, but not abuse of alcohol, increased odds of new assault in the subsequent 2 years. Reciprocally, after a new assault, odds of both alcohol abuse and drug use were significantly increased, even among women with no previous use or assault history. For illicit drug use, findings support a vicious cycle relationship in which substance use increases risk of future assault and assault increases risk of subsequent substance use.
authors.affiliation: National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425-0742, USA.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Kilpatrick
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Acierno
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Resnick
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Best
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012008:Recurrence; D012306:Risk; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs