Articles

Relationship between drug use and intimate partner violence among women on methadone

El-Bassel, Nabila; Gilbert, Louisa; Wu, Elwin; Go, Hyun; Hill, Jennifer

Objectives. We examined whether frequent drug use increases the likelihood of subsequent sexual or physical intimate partner violence (IPV) and whether IPV increases the likelihood of subsequent frequent drug use. Methods. A random sample of 416 women on methadone was assessed at baseline (wave 1) and at 6 months (wave 2), and 12 months (wave 3) following the initial assessment. Propensity score matching and multiple logistic regression were employed. Results. Women who reported frequent crack use at wave 2 were more likely than non-drug using women to report IPV at wave 3 (odds ratio [OR]=4.4; 95% confidence interval [CI]=2.1, 9.1; P<.01), and frequent marijuana users at wave 2 were more likely than non-drug users to report IPV at wave 3 (OR=4.5; 95% CI=2.4, 8.4; P<.01). In addition, women who reported IPV at wave 2 were more likely than women who did not report IPV to indicate frequent heroin use at wave 3 (OR=2.7; 95% CI=1.1, 6.5; P=.04). Conclusions. Our findings suggest that the relationship between frequent drug use and IPV is bidirectional and varies by type of drug.

Subjects

Files

Also Published In

Title
American Journal of Public Health
DOI
https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2003.023200

More About This Work

Academic Units
Social Work
Published Here
April 4, 2012