# Proximal Effects of Alcohol on Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence

> **NIH NIH R01** · GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $518,084

## Abstract

Partner violence within same-sex intimate relationships (SS-IPV) is a vastly understudied public health
problem. Etiological models of SS-IPV perpetration are critical to intervention development and must include
factors unique to same-sex relationships (e.g., sexual minority stress); however, such models have yet to be
developed or validated. Three particularly notable explanations for this include exclusive use of cross-sectional
designs to study SS-IPV perpetration (i.e., inability to establish temporal effects), no studies which examine the
proximal effects of alcohol on SS-IPV perpetration, and a paucity of studies which account for participants’ and
their intimate partners’ intersecting social identities. These limitations prevent research from developing and
testing theoretically-based and culturally-sensitive interventions designed to reduce SS-IPV.
The scientific premise of the proposed project is to prioritize three perspectives highlighted by the Institute of
Medicine (2011) report – minority stress, social-ecology, and intersectionality – while addressing the
aforementioned weaknesses. We aim to determine (1) the temporal effect of sexual minority stress on SS-IPV
perpetration, (2) whether proximal alcohol use alters the threshold at which sexual minority stress contributes
to SS-IPV perpetration, (3) the temporal sequence by which sexual minority stress, proximal alcohol use, and
other factors facilitate SS-IPV, and (4) how these interactive and mediational effects are altered by the
patterning of individual- and couple-level risk and resilience factors for SS-IPV.
These goals will be achieved by using the complementary strengths of laboratory-based experimental (Study 1)
and longitudinal daily diary methods (Study 2), which are gold standard methods for establishing temporal
relations among risk factors and IPV perpetration. For each study, we will recruit an independent sample of
cisgender male-male and female-female couples who identify as gay or lesbian and are at high risk for IPV
(based upon prior history of IPV) from Atlanta, GA. Across both studies, effects will be examined within an
Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling framework which will allow for valid analysis of both partners’
intersecting identities as well as risk and resilience factors at the individual- and couple-level.
The most important contribution of the proposed project will be to provide the first comprehensive etiological
model for SS-IPV perpetration that attends to both interactional and process-based factors that account for
sexual minority stress and proximal alcohol effects at the individual- and couple-level of analysis. In doing so,
results derived from this project will make a major contribution toward the evidence base required to develop
effective, culturally-informed SS-IPV treatment and prevention efforts.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10401484
- **Project number:** 5R01AA025995-05
- **Recipient organization:** GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Dominic Parrott
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $518,084
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-05-01 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10401484

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10401484, Proximal Effects of Alcohol on Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence (5R01AA025995-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10401484. Licensed CC0.

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