Alcohol Use, Drinking Venue Utilization, and Child Physical Abuse: Results from a Pilot Study

A positive relationship between parents’ drinking and child physical abuse has been established by previous research. This paper examines how a parent’s use of drinking locations is related to physical abuse. A convenience sample of 103 parents answered questions on physical abuse with the Conflict Tactics Scale-Parent Child version (CTS-PC), current drinking behavior, and the frequency with which they drank at different venues, including bars and parties. Ordered probit models were used to assess relationships between parent demographics, drinking patterns, places of drinking, and CTS-PC scores. Frequent drinking, frequently going to bars, frequently going to parties in a parent’s own home, and frequently going to parties in friends’ homes were positively related to child physical abuse. The number of drinking locations was positively related to child physical abuse such that parents who report attending and drinking at more of these venues were more likely to be perpetrators of physical abuse. This suggests that time spent in these venues provides opportunities to mix with individuals that may share the same attitudes and norms towards acting violently.