Grant to support new research to address alcohol-related partner violence among sexual minorities

(Press-News.org) Navigating the intersection of alcohol use and intimate partner violence amongst young couples is not an easy journey, and for bisexual+ couples, the road may be even more winding.  

“No study has examined the extent to which alcohol use increases intimate personal violence among bisexual+ young adults or daily experiences unique to them. Our study will look at factors such as minority stressors that may lead to alcohol-related partner violence,” said Meagan Brem, director of the Research for Alcohol and Couple’s Health Lab at Virginia Tech.

Alcohol use and intimate partner violence - defined as any action in a romantic relationship including psychological, emotional, physical, and sexual partner-directed aggression - are as or more prevalent among bisexual+ couples than heterosexual couples, according to Brem, who is also assistant professor in the Department of Psychology. However, compared with other sexual identities, the research has largely neglected this population, which includes individuals who identify as multi-gender attracted, pansexual, and omnisexual individuals.

This critical gap will be addressed by Brem and her research team as the result of a new, two-year $436,586 grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  

Brem and her collaborators will collect daily data for 60 consecutive days from 50 bisexual+ couples and will characterize the day-to-day processes that contribute to alcohol-related intimate partner violence within this understudied priority population. They will then identify subpopulations within bisexual+ couples — including same- or different-gender dyads and couples in which both partners have minoritized sexual identities — to inform future alcohol-related intimate partner violence research.

“This study will be the first step in a line of research that will inform interventions tailored to bisexual+ young adults, a population vulnerable to heavy drinking and partner violence,” said Brem, who is the project’s principal investigator. “If bisexual+ minority stress increases the odds of alcohol-related intimate partner violence, but partner support mitigates these odds, intervention refinements could be developed and tested to ensure that bisexual+ individuals and their partners strengthen their coping strategies and partner support, particularly in response to sexual minority stressors.” 

Project collaborators include

Alexandra Hanlon, director of the Virginia Tech Center for Biostatistics and Health Data Science Ryan Shorey, associate professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Brian Feinstein, associate professor of psychology at the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science “This research will also increase awareness of the unique challenges facing bisexual people and inform interventions to improve their health and wellbeing,” Feinstein said. “It’s incredible to see the NIH supporting research on bisexual health, and I’m grateful to Meagan for her leadership." 

The project is a result of Brem’s previous research contribution to the development of an integrated theory of sexual minority alcohol-related intimate partner violence. Pilot data collected to apply for this grant was made possible through Virginia Tech’s Dean’s Discovery Fund.

In that past work, Brem and colleagues proposed that greater sexual minority stress, such as harassment, stigma, and discrimination, creates a salient state of negative, provocative stimuli that when paired with the pharmacological effects of alcohol increases odds of intimate partner violence perpetration. However, their preliminary findings among individuals — rather than couples — did not support this theory, which then led them to focus on the ways in which partners within each couple support and validate each other in response to sexual minority stressors at the daily level.  

Becuase of the higher rates of alcohol use, intimate partner violence, and lack of research among bisexual+ couples, Brem and her team decided to specifically focus on this population and improve upon their previous methods by assessing daily exposure to sexual minority stress and partner support.  

The team will also be partnering with local and national LGBTQ+ agencies to make sure that the results reach those who can benefit the most from this work.  

“No bisexual+ specific intervention targets have been identified or incorporated into existing alcohol-related intimate partner violence interventions,” Brem said. “Our study will identify sorely needed intervention targets for this priority population to enhance the inclusivity of interventions.”

 

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