How much alcohol men drink in a typical session is a bigger factor than how often they drink when perpetrating intimate partner violence, research shows.
Using two lots of data from different periods spanning almost a decade from a study on male health, a report from the Australian Institute of Family Studies shows men with harmful use of alcohol had about double the risk of initiating physical violence than low-risk drinkers.
How much men drank in a typical session mattered more than how often they drank, with those who consumed more than 10 standard drinks being 55 per cent more likely to initiate violence than non-drinkers.
The report also found the binge-drinking link to violence was not affected by how men viewed their own adherence to cultural gender norms or masculine traits.
"There was little evidence that self-reported masculinities changed the strength of the relationship between alcohol use and intimate partner violence initiation," the report reads.
"Higher-risk drinking was linked to intimate partner violence regardless of the strength of conformity to these masculine norms."
The report recommends using alcohol harm reduction as a practical lever to support prevention efforts against intimate partner violence.
Indicators of heavier drinking in risk identification should be prioritised and routine alcohol screening should be strengthened.
The report also calls for "specific masculine norms" associated with violence to be targeted.
"While this report found little evidence that these norms change the strength of the alcohol–intimate partner violence association, the highest observed risks tended to be among men with both higher-risk drinking and higher-risk masculine norm profiles," it reads.
There was no evidence that the age someone had their first alcoholic drink was associated with initiating violence against current or former partners between the two time frames studied, according to the research.
Men's use of violence in relationships remains a significant concern in Australia, with most of the evidence coming from either criminal justice records or studies of specific groups of men, the research found.
Generating population-based evidence was essential to inform strategies aimed at reducing domestic violence.
Identifying factors associated with intimate partner violence use was found to be crucial for the design of effective prevention and intervention approaches.
The research recommended a future focus on additional factors such as financial stress, and age or drug use.
The report also calls for further studies on specific groups of men such as those who identify as LGBTQI, living with a disability or in regional and remote areas.
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