Publication year
2017
Citation Title
A latent profile analysis of aggression and victimization across relationship types among veterans who use substances.
Journal Name
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs
Journal Volume
78
Issue Number
4
Page Numbers
597-607
DOI
10.15288/jsad.2017.78.597
Summary
To provide effective violence prevention services for Veterans post-deployment, it is important to understand the nature of violence experienced by Veterans. This study investigated the patterns and forms of violence experienced by Veterans with both intimate partners and non-intimate partners. Using a sample of 839 Veterans who participated in a randomized control trial, findings indicated that a large majority of participants reported engagement in some form of violence and a majority of these incidents occurred with non-intimate partners.
Key Findings
Majority of the participants (86.3%) reported engaging in a form of violence, with 75.6% reporting engagement in non-intimate partner violence and 64.6% reporting engagement in intimate partner violence.
Psychological violence (86%) was the most reported form of violence among both non-intimate partner violence and intimate partner violence.
Less than half of the participants engaged in some form of physical violence (48%) and injury related violence (30%).
All participants fell into one of four distinct profiles characterized by relationship type and severity of violence involvement: no/low violence profile, predominately intimate partner violence profile, predominately non-intimate partner violence profile, and high general violence profile.
Implications for Program Leaders
Disseminate information about the impact of mental health symptoms on violence involvement to Service members and their families
Provide education on intimate partner violence and healthy conflict resolutions skills to Service members and their intimate partners
Develop support groups for Service members who have engaged in some form of violence
Implications for Policy Makers
Recommend collaboration with community-based organizations to provide violence prevention resources to Service members and their families
Recommend professional education on the four violence profiles to professionals providing services to Service members and their families
Promote the integration of violence prevention modules into reintegration activities for Service members
Methods
Data were collected as part screening process for participation in a randomized control trial. Participants received $10.00 gift cards for completing the screening.
The screening process included multiple surveys on past intimate partner violence and non-intimate partner violence, depression symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, past substance use, and legal problems (e.g., shoplifting, assault,rape). The screening lasted 30 minutes.
Data were analyzed by identifying the different sub-types of violence and organizing the data into four profiles.
Participants
Study participants included 839 Veterans recruited from a Veterans Affairs Medical Center who completed screening surveys to participate in a randomized control trial between 2012 to 2015.
Majority of the participants where male (93.4%), White (71.5%), unemployed (75.9%), single (69.6%), with an average age of 48 years and an average income between $10,000 - $19,999.
Over half of the Veterans served in either Vietnam (30%) or Afghanistan and/or Iraq (30%).
Limitations
The study utilized participant self report data of violence engagement, which limits the study as self reports may be biased with participants under-reporting their own aggression involvement.
As majority of the participants in this study were male, White and single; therefore, the study findings may not be able to generalize to diverse groups.
Findings of the study represented the perspectives of a unique population: participants who were actively seeking treatment for substance abuse. Therefore, this sample of participants limits the study's ability to generalize findings to all Veteran groups.
Avenues for Future Research
Include the perspective of partners on Veteran's violence involvement
Replicate the study with a better representation of female Veterans and Service members
Examine the impact of relationship status on Service members violence involvement by comparing single and partnered samples of Service members
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Abstract
This study examined patterns of violence victimization and aggression in both intimate partner and nonpartner relationships among U.S. military veterans using latent profile analysis to identify subtypes of violence involvement. Method: Participants were 839 substance use treatment–seeking veterans (93% male) from a large Veterans Affairs Medical Center who completed screening measures for a randomized controlled trial. Results: Past-year violence involvement, including both intimate partner violence (IPV) and nonpartner violence (NPV), was common in the sample, although NPV occurred at somewhat higher rates. When we included either IPV or NPV aggression or victimization, more than 40% reported involvement with physical violence, 30% with violence involving injury, and 86% with psychological aggression. Latent profile analysis including both aggression and victimization in partner and nonpartner relationships indicated a four-profile solution: no/low violence (NLV; n = 377), predominantly IPV (n = 219), predominantly NPV (n = 134), and high general violence (HGV; n = 109). Multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that,
compared with the NLV group, the remaining three groups differed in age, cocaine use, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and legal involvement. Legal issues appeared to differentiate the profiles most, with the predominantly NPV and HGV profiles reporting more instances of driving under the influence and the HGV profile reporting legal problems related to aggression. Conclusions: IPV and NPV are fairly common among veterans seeking substance use treatment. The clinical characteristics of violence profiles indicate that cocaine use, PTSD symptoms, and legal involvement are treatment needs that vary with violence profile and may be useful for clinical decision making. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 78, 597–607, 2017)
compared with the NLV group, the remaining three groups differed in age, cocaine use, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and legal involvement. Legal issues appeared to differentiate the profiles most, with the predominantly NPV and HGV profiles reporting more instances of driving under the influence and the HGV profile reporting legal problems related to aggression. Conclusions: IPV and NPV are fairly common among veterans seeking substance use treatment. The clinical characteristics of violence profiles indicate that cocaine use, PTSD symptoms, and legal involvement are treatment needs that vary with violence profile and may be useful for clinical decision making. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 78, 597–607, 2017)
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