Anxiety, alcohol intoxication, and aggression

Abstract

Purpose. Research into alcohol‐related aggression has typically focused on perpetrators’ externalizing characteristics. The purpose of this exploratory review is to examine the contribution of anxiety to alcohol‐related aggression. Arguments. Anxiety disorders are associated with externalizing disorders in childhood, but anxiety appears to protect against extreme antisocial behaviours. In contrast, in adolescence and early adulthood, anxiety appears to be associated with increased risk of antisocial behaviour. One possible explanation for this disjunction may be alcohol use, which typically starts in adolescence. Alcohol is an anxiolytic drug, which may appeal to certain young people who are socially anxious but not socially avoidant. Alcohol myopia, the cognitive mechanism whereby alcohol exerts an anxiolytic effect, is also a mechanism by which alcohol serves to increase aggression. Therefore, in anxious antisocial people, drinking to cope with anxiety is likely to increase aggression. Conclusions. Interventions that flow from the research on anxiety, alcohol, and aggression are suggested.

Fear and missing out: Youth anxiety and functional outcomes.

“…Youth anxiety disorders are associated with the development of substance use problems in adulthood (e.g., Kendall, Safford, Flannery-Schroeder, & Webb, 2004), and anxiety when coupled with substance use may place adults at increased risk of committing antisocial acts (McMurran, 2011). Participants were categorized into four groups: no offense charge between 16 and 21, small offense charges (disorderly conduct, trespassing), moderate offense charges (larceny, simple assault, drugrelated offenses), or severe offense charges (sexual assault, assault with a deadly weapon).…”

Anxiety, alcohol use, and aggression: Untangling the causal pathways

“…Given the enormous social and economic costs of alcohol‐related violence, understanding the causal processes that give rise to this relationship is of paramount importance. As McMurran (2011, pp. 357–371) rightly points out, however, the relationship between alcohol and violence is by no means inevitable: most drinking occasions do not lead to aggression and violence, and violence obviously occurs in the absence of alcohol consumption.…”

“…Relevant event level and situational factors include the amount of alcohol consumed, provocation, and the drinking environment (Leonard, Quigley, & Collins, 2003). McMurran (2011, pp. 357–371) provides a valuable contribution to this literature by offering a conceptually coherent, empirically grounded, and plausible model of the relationship between anxiety, alcohol intoxication, and aggression.…”

“…However, the nature of the causal relationship between anxiety disorders and alcohol use problems is more a matter of dispute (Kushner, Abrams, & Borchardt, 2000; Morris, Stewart, & Ham, 2005). Although it seems plausible, as McMurran (2011, pp. 357–371) suggests, that at least some individuals with anxiety problems engage in heavy drinking in order to relieve tension and facilitate social interaction, other causal pathways are also likely.…”

“… Given the enormous social and economic costs of alcohol‐related violence, understanding the causal processes that give rise to the relationship between alcohol and violence is of paramount importance. McMurran provides a valuable contribution to this literature by offering a conceptually coherent, empirically grounded, and plausible model of the relationship between anxiety, alcohol intoxication, and aggression (McMurran, 2011, pp. 357–371).…”