Emotion Dysregulation, Alcohol Use, Posttraumatic Stress, and Intimate Partner Violence
A recent study by Brick and colleagues (2025), published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, examined the relationships between difficulties managing emotions, alcohol use, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and intimate partner violence (IPV). The researchers followed 111 women, who had experienced recent physical or sexual IPV by their male partner and consumed alcohol or drugs, for 30 days. The women were sent surveys three times per day—once in the morning, afternoon, and evening—through an interactive voice recording (IVR) telephone system. The researchers observed distinct patterns among the women that showed unique relationships between the ways they managed their emotions, their alcohol intake, the severity of their traumatic stress, and their experiences of IPV during the 30 days. One pattern, for instance, suggested that some women experiencing IPV, who experience greater difficulty managing their negative emotions, may be at increased risk for posttraumatic stress and future IPV. A second pattern suggested that some women experiencing IPV, who have greater difficulty managing their negative emotions and experience more severe posttraumatic stress, may be at increased risk for alcohol use–related harm. A third pattern suggested that some women experiencing IPV may have greater difficulty regulating their negative emotions following alcohol consumption. Lastly, one pattern suggested that women experiencing IPV may experience greater posttraumatic stress and subsequent IPV exposure, independent of significant difficulties regulating their emotions or their alcohol consumption. These findings underscore the importance of precise screening and employing tailored interventions for women experiencing IPV. That is, when treating trauma-related symptoms and heavy alcohol consumption, clinicians may take care to consider whether alcohol use or difficulties regulating emotions could be a primary treatment target for some subgroups of women experiencing IPV based on how these experiences unfold over time within their natural environments.
Article citation: Brick, L. A., Wallace, G. T., Raudales, A. M., Iyer, R. K., & Weiss, N. H. (2025). Heterogeneity across idiographic network associations among emotion dysregulation, alcohol use, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and intimate partner violence. Journal of Traumatic Stress. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.23149