Relationship between dating violence and use of alcohol and illegal drugs in Spanish adolescents and young adults

The goal of this study is to examine the relationship between substance use (i.e., alcohol and illegal drugs) and dating aggression in couples of adolescents and young adults. The sample comprised 1,282 people of between 15 and 20 years of age. Through cluster analysis, three groups of young people with different levels of substance use were identified: low, intermediate, and high use of alcohol and illegal drugs. Through logistic regression analysis, high levels of alcohol and illegal drug use were revealed to significantly increase the probability of reporting physical and sexual aggression in both sexes. Likewise, young people with high levels of use more frequently reported that they were the ones who initiated episodes of aggression against their partners. The results suggest that alcohol and drug use is a risk factor for dating aggression, a finding that should be taken into account for the prevention of intimate partner violence, beginning in adolescence.