Alcohol consumption, alcohol abuse, personality and female perpetrated spouse abuse

As part of the Winnipeg Health and Drinking Survey, this study examined the problem of female perpetrated spouse abuse and its relationship to alcohol consumption and personality. Subjects were drawn from a random sample of Winnipeg residents (N = 1257) between the ages of 18 and 65 years. For this study, data from the subsample of female subjects who were married or cohabiting (N = 452) were analyzed. Results show that more than 39% of female subjects participated in some form of spouse abuse with their male partners. Being young and having high scores on Eysenck's psychoticism scale, the Neuroticism Index and the MacAndrew Scale were found to be significant risk factors in the occurence of partner abuse among females. Also, the interaction between alcohol consumption and Eysenck's psychoticism scale was found to be a weak but significant predictor for this form of violence.