Alcohol and Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence: A Review, Current Trends, and a Look Toward the Future

It is with great pleasure that I introduce this exciting collection of articles, focused on two of the most common forms of interpersonal violence—sexual assault and intimate partner violence—and how these forms of violence intersect with alcohol consumption. Rates of sexual and intimate partner violence remain high in the United States and around the world (Dworkin et al., 2021; Sardinha et al., 2022; Smith et al., 2015; World Health Organization, 2021). The personal and societal impact of this violence is significant, as both are associated with deleterious physical and mental health outcomes, as well as impairment in work and other functioning (Dillon et al., 2013; White et al., 2024).

Alcohol is commonly implicated in interpersonal violence. Approximately half of all sexual assaults involve alcohol use by the victim, perpetrator, or both (Abbey et al., 2004; Duke et al., 2018; Lorenz & Ullman, 2016; Orchowski et al., 2013; Testa, 2002). Likewise, numerous reviews and meta-analytic studies have documented the strong association between alcohol consumption and intimate partner violence (Bushman, 2002; Ito et al., 1996; Leonard & Quigley, 2017; Parrott & Eckhardt, 2018). For both sexual assault and intimate partner violence, the association with alcohol is a bidirectional one (Devries et al., 2014; Testa & Livingston, 2009), with alcohol acting as both antecedent to and consequence of violence.

The specific mechanisms by which alcohol is linked to sexual and intimate partner violence are complex and multifaceted. Alcohol alters cognitive processing in ways that may lead to diminished capacity to appropriately perceive inhibiting cues or to interpret social cues (e.g., Davis et al., 2023; Giancola et al., 2010; Steele & Josephs, 1990). Further, alcohol can increase the likelihood of aggressive responding, and it can reduce inhibitory processes that might otherwise prevent violence (i.e., impelling and inhibiting factors; Parrott & Eckhardt, 2018). Alcohol also can impair both reaction time and motor coordination, making it more difficult for potential victims to respond or protect themselves from unwanted sexual advances or other forms of aggression (Testa, 2002; Testa & Livingston, 2009). At high doses, victims may be so incapacitated that they are completely unable to defend themselves or even to be aware that violence is occurring (Carey et al., 2015; Testa & Livingston, 2009). Finally, alcohol may be employed as a tactic to coerce sexual activity (Abbey & Jacques-Tiura, 2011) or to weaken personal and social protections and exploit vulnerabilities in ways that facilitate violence (Mannon, 1997; Mustaine & Tewksbury, 1999).

A long history of research has brought us to our current understanding of the alcohol–interpersonal violence relationship. This understanding began with early experimental studies, which established a link between alcohol and tendency toward violence (e.g., Taylor et al., 1976, 1977). With time this knowledge base grew, and by the early 1990s there was sufficient evidence in the experimental literature for reviews to conclude that alcohol consumption was causally related to aggressive behavior (Bushman & Cooper, 1990; Taylor & Chermack, 1993). These summaries corroborated findings from a body of national epidemiological research that also demonstrated an alcohol–aggression link (e.g., Collins & Schlenger, 1988; Martin, 1992; Pernanen, 1993).

In the 1980s and 1990s in both the scientific literature and in the popular press, there also was growing attention to the scope and impact of sexual and intimate partner violence. Through this, there emerged an increasing awareness that sexual violence was more common than had previously been believed, and that a substantial portion of these acts of violence were perpetrated not by a stranger, but by someone known to the victim (e.g., Kilpatrick et al., 1992; Koss et al., 1987; Tjaden & Thoennes, 1998). Not coincidentally, at this same time the terms date rape and acquaintance rape entered the American parlance to describe sexual assaults that occurred between people known to one another. Concurrent to this, there also was a rising awareness of violence that occurred within the context of a romantic or partnered relationship, first commonly known as marital violence and eventually termed intimate partner violence (Gelles & Straus, 1988; Leonard & Blane, 1992; Leonard & Senchak, 1993). Increased knowledge of the ubiquity and complex nature of these forms of interpersonal violence catalyzed a new direction in the empirical literature, as investigators began to consider the myriad ways that personal relationships and social settings contributed to violence risk and propensity and the role that alcohol might play (e.g., Abbey, 2002; Cue et al., 1996; Cunradi et al., 2012, 2020; Graham et al., 2002; Jacob & Leonard, 1992; Read et al., 2021; Stappenbeck et al., 2020; Testa, 2002; Wilsnack et al., 1997).

As investigators sought to understand these dynamics, the field's lens continued to expand, moving further and further from a focus on alcohol as the singular causal agent in the occurrence of interpersonal violence and toward consideration of the role of alcohol as but one piece of a much larger and more intricate puzzle. This shift could be seen across multiple converging studies, including those showing that reducing drinking did not necessarily reduce assault victimization and that alcohol consumption was not the only contributor to violence perpetration likelihood (e.g., Clinton-Sherrod et al., 2011; Testa & Cleveland, 2017), as well as in meta-analyses demonstrating considerable variation in effect sizes in research on alcohol and aggression (e.g., Foran & O'Leary, 2008; Stith et al., 2004). This shift also was evident in conceptual models that posited complex and multifactorial pathways to violence that included but were not exclusive to alcohol (e.g., Abbey, 2017; Finkel, 2007; Foran & O'Leary, 2008; Malamuth et al., 2021). Thus, the next task for the field was to unpack these complex processes to consider mechanisms, moderators, processes, and contextual factors that might clarify the alcohol and aggression link.

Accordingly, in the last decade there has been a proliferation of research that has sought to capture the fine-grained and complex ways that alcohol and sexual and intimate partner violence intersect. This research has been aided and in many cases even made possible by emerging methods such as ecological momentary assessment and daily diary approaches that allow for more fine-grained analysis of risk and protection contexts and technologies that are well-suited to capturing event-level examination in real-world environments (see Abbey, 2023; Grocott et al., 2024; Zaso et al., 2024). Inside the laboratory, approaches such as virtual reality, dyadic interaction software, etc., allow for more nuanced analysis of the part that alcohol plays in interpersonal violence than had previously been possible (Abbey, 2023; Eckhardt & Parrott, 2024). There also has been an increasing focus on the role of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other individual difference factors in interpersonal violence risk and protection (e.g., Caamano-Isorna et al., 2021; Peitzmeier et al., 2020; Wiseblatt et al., 2025), expanding the reach and impact of alcohol and violence research.

This brings us to the current moment. The articles that comprise this special issue reflect where the field is today, offering insight into new and developing trends and pointing to future directions for the field. Some of the work presented here addresses novel methods and technologies that allow for examination of alcohol and sexual and intimate partner violence in real-word or simulated environments (e.g., Abbey et al., 2025; Smith et al., 2025; Wells et al., 2025) or that make use of technologies to deliver intervention in real time (e.g., Waddell et al., 2025), considering ethical as well as practical dimensions of these approaches. Other articles advance integrative conceptual models of alcohol and violence (e.g., Parrott et al., 2025) and incorporate innovative approaches to model development (e.g., Mair et al., 2025) and model testing (Marcantonio et al., 2025). As our understanding of the role of alcohol in sexual and intimate partner violence has deepened, it has become clear that we need a stronger accounting of the complex social, emotional, cultural, and behavioral dynamics that contextualize and are an inherent part of violence risk. Many of the articles in this issue provide such an account (Davis et al., 2025; Garner et al., 2025; Napper et al., 2025; Orchowski et al., 2025; Roberts et al., 2025). Finally, risk for sexual and intimate partner violence varies across demographic groups (Canan et al., 2021; Coulter et al., 2017; McCauley et al., 2009; Montenegro et al., 2024; Peitzmeier et al., 2020; Walters et al., 2013; Warren et al., 2024; Wiseblatt et al., 2025), and emerging research suggests that the role that alcohol may play in such violence also may differ in ways that currently are not well understood (e.g., Parrott et al., 2023; Wiseblatt et al., 2025). To address this gap, researchers increasingly have begun to consider the occurrence of alcohol-related violence in potentially vulnerable populations and the ways that interventions may be designed to respond to individual and cultural needs. Several of the articles in this special issue illustrate this expanding perspective, considering factors such as race, sexual orientation, or gender identity as they may pertain to violence risk and intervention (e.g., Basting et al., 2025; Edwards et al., 2025; Parks et al., 2025).

Interpersonal violence remains a pervasive problem worldwide and has a profound impact on health and functional outcomes for millions of individuals. Alcohol plays a crucial role in how violence risk unfolds, and in its after-math. The articles in this special issue reflect the current status of the field and speak to the progress we have made in understanding and ameliorating this phenomenon of alcohol-related violence that has such a profound impact on health and functional outcomes. This collection of articles also underscores the important work that we as a field have ahead of us. Amidst a rapidly changing cultural, political, and technological landscape, the global problem of interpersonal violence persists and has taken on new forms and expressions. Research that rises to meet these modern and evolving threats has never been more essential. There is a pressing need for science that advances our understanding, helps to shape cultural attitudes, innovates prevention and intervention approaches, and informs laws and policies to reduce alcohol-related violence, promoting a better quality of life for individuals and for the broader society.