Downward Spirals? the Relations Among Aggressive Peer Networks, Alcohol Use, and Romantic Relationship Victimization From Adolescence to Young Adulthood

Approximately 25% of Canadian adolescents experience physical aggression in their romantic relationships (Connolly et al., 2010), and roughly half report relational aggression  (Ellis et al., 2008). Peer aggression and alcohol use are two important correlates of adolescent romantic aggression; however no studies to date have examined the potentially reciprocal associations between these disruptive behaviors. Three theoretical models are examined: a stress-coping model (in which experiences with peer and romantic aggression lead to increased alcohol use over time), an early social context model (in which early alcohol use and experiences with peer aggression lead to greater romantic aggression victimization over time), and a transactional model (in which alcohol use, peer aggression, and romantic aggression reciprocally influence one another over time).

A sample of 662 12-18 year-olds (342 girls) were interviewed four times over six years as part of the Victoria Healthy Youth Survey (V-HYS). A trained interviewer administered a survey which included items pertaining to recent alcohol use, peer aggression perpetration and victimization, and romantic aggression victimization. Autoregressive, cross-lagged, structural equation models were used to determine the best fitting theoretical model. Each model included estimated means for the construct, autoregressive paths within each construct (e.g., Time 2 regressed on Time 1) and within time correlations between constructs. To control for demographic influences, age and mother’s education (used as a proxy for SES) were included as covariates with each construct at each time point. The transactional model provided the best fit to the data and was a significant improvement over the baseline and stress-coping models Δχ²(18)  = 30.71 – 54.12 and Δχ²(12)  = 24.51 – 47.38 respectively, ps < 0.05. The transactional model was also an improvement over the early social context model, Δχ²(12)  = 22.34 and 27.14, ps < 0.05, with the exception of the model containing pathways between victimization by peers and relational romantic victimization Δχ²(12)  = 19.29, p > 0.05, and the model containing pathways between aggression against peers and physical romantic victimization Δχ²(12)  = 8.31, p > 0.05.

Romantic aggression victimization during adolescence does indeed escalate in the context of increasing alcohol use and peer aggression, moreover early experiences of romantic aggression may also predispose some individuals to increasing levels of alcohol use as well as peer aggression perpetration and victimization over time. Hence, romantic relationship quality during adolescence and early adulthood is both impacted by but also impacts other disruptive behaviour patterns in a downward spiral of antisocial activity.