Aggressive behaviour among drug-using women from Cape Town, South Africa: ethnicity, heavy alcohol use, methamphetamine and intimate partner violence.

Journal: BMC women's health

Volume: 17

Issue: 1

Year of Publication: 2018

Affiliated Institutions:  Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, PO Box , Tygerberg, , South Africa. tara.carney@mrc.ac.za. Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, PO Box , Tygerberg, , South Africa. Substance Use Gender, and Applied Research Program, Research Triangle Park, RTI, Cornwallis Road, Chapel Hill, NC, , USA.

Abstract summary 

Women have generally been found to be the victims of violence, but scant attention has been paid to the characteristics of women who perpetrate aggression and violence. In South Africa, violence is a prevalent societal issue, especially in the Western Cape.This study aimed at identifying factors that were associated with aggression among a sample of 720 substance-using women. We conducted multivariate logistic regression to identify factors that are significantly associated with these behaviours.Ethnicity (Wald Χ = 17.07(2), p < 0.01) and heavy drinking (Wald Χ = 6.60 (2), p = 0.01) were significantly related to verbal aggression, methamphetamine use was significantly related to physical (Wald Χ = 2.73 (2), p = 0.01) and weapon aggression (Wald Χ = 7.94 (2), p < 0.01) and intimate partner violence was significantly related to verbal (Wald Χ = 12.43 (2), p < 0.01) and physical aggression (Wald Χ = 25.92 (2), p < 0.01).The findings show high levels of aggression among this sample, and highlight the need for interventions that address methamphetamine, heavy drinking and intimate partner violence among vulnerable substance-using women.

Authors & Co-authors:  Carney Tara T Myers Bronwyn B Kline Tracy L TL Johnson Kim K Wechsberg Wendee M WM

Study Outcome 

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Statistics
Citations :  Seedat M, Van Niekerk A, Jewkes R, Suffla S, Ratele K. Violence and injuries in South Africa: prioritising an agenda for prevention. Lancet. 2009;374:68–79. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60948-X.
Authors :  5
Identifiers
Doi : 93
SSN : 1472-6874
Study Population
Women
Mesh Terms
Adult
Other Terms
Aggression;South Africa;Substance use;Violence;Women
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Approach
Country of Study
South Africa
Publication Country
England