Effects of alcohol problem discrepancy on relationship adjustment: The moderating role of conflict negotiation among couples with alcohol use disorder and intimate partner violence

Abstract

AbstractAlcohol use disorder (AUD) has well‐known negative effects on romantic relationship functioning, including the occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV). A separate literature focused on community couples indicates that relationship functioning is more likely to suffer when partners report greater discrepancies in alcohol consumption. It is important to expand this literature to couples with AUD and to examine the role of impactful AUD domains in dyadic functioning. Furthermore, few studies have examined adaptive, treatment‐malleable factors that could potentially offset the negative impact of alcohol discrepancies on relationship functioning. This study examined the association between couples' alcohol problem discrepancies and relationship adjustment, as well as the moderating effect of self‐reported adaptive conflict negotiation behaviors. Participants were 100 couples (N = 200 individual participants) with intimate partner violence wherein at least one partner met diagnostic criteria for AUD. Actor‐Partner Interdependence Models indicated that greater alcohol problem discrepancy was associated with lower dyadic adjustment. Moderation analyses revealed that the highest level of relationship adjustment was observed among couples with lower alcohol problem discrepancy and greater negotiation behaviors, while relationship adjustment was similar for couples with larger alcohol problem discrepancy, regardless of negotiation behaviors. Although further study is needed to clarify under what specific conditions adaptive negotiation behaviors are most helpful, they appear to be beneficial for some couples in this sample. We found no evidence that negotiation behaviors may be harmful among these high‐risk couples.