title: Drinking style and dating violence in a sample of urban, alcohol-using youth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined childhood abuse, problem behavior, drinking style, and dating violence (DV). Our goal was to assess whether (a) alcohol use-related beliefs and behaviors ("drinking style") would be associated with DV perpetration and victimization, (b) drinking style would mediate the relationship between childhood abuse and DV, and (c) the drinking style-DV relationship would be attributable to propensity for problem behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 456 youth ages 14-21 years who were patients in an urban emergency department. Participants were eligible if they were unmarried and reported past-month alcohol use and dating in the past year. By design, the sample was 50% female. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For both males and females, past-year DV was associated with a more risky drinking style, characterized by more frequent alcohol use, alcohol-aggression expectancies, drinking to cope, and beliefs that alcohol is disinhibiting and that being drunk provides a "time-out" from behavioral expectations. Drinking style mediated the childhood victimization-DV relationship for males and females. However, when propensity for problem behavior was included in the model, the effect of drinking style on DV was no longer significant. Substantial path differences for males and females were observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current study examined adolescent drinking style as a potential mediator between childhood victimization and DV. Drinking style was associated with DV for males and females and mediated the relationship between childhood victimization and DV. The relationship between drinking style and DV appeared to reflect adolescents' propensity for problem behavior. Variations in males' and females' pathways to DV were observed. The implications of these findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Massachusetts 02118, USA. erothman@bu.edu
authors.forename: Emily F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Rothman
authors.forename: Gregory L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Stuart
authors.forename: Paul E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Greenbaum
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heeren
authors.forename: Deborah J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bowen
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vinci
authors.forename: Allyson L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Baughman
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bernstein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000009:adverse effects; D003380:Courtship; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003469:Culture; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012737:Sex Factors; D014505:Urban Population; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol