The CHLEW Couples Study: Protocol for a Study of Stress, Hazardous Drinking, and Intimate Partner Aggression among Sexual Minority Women and their Partners (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Large gaps exist in research on alcohol use and intimate partner aggression (IPA) among sexual minority women (SMW; e.g., lesbian, bisexual). Dyadic research with SMW and their partners can illuminate how couple-level factors operate in conjunction with individual-level factors to shape well-being in this understudied and vulnerable population. Given the traditionally gendered lens in which women are primarily viewed as victims and men as perpetrators, understanding the dynamics of IPA in same-sex female couples can also advance research and practice related to IPA more generally. OBJECTIVE Guided by a recent extension of the minority stress model that includes relational (couple-level) sexual minority stress, and by the I3 (I-Cubed) theoretical perspective on IPA, we will collect individual and dyadic data to better characterize the links between hazardous drinking (HD) and IPA among SMW and their partners. The study aims are to (1) Examine associations among minority stress, HD, and IPA in SMW and their partners. Minority stressors will be assessed as both individual and couple-level constructs, thus further extending the minority stress model; (2) Examine potential mediators and moderators of the associations among minority stress, HD, and IPA; and (3) Test models guided by the I3 theoretical perspective that include instigating (e.g., relationship conflict), impelling (e.g., negative affect, trait anger), and inhibiting (e.g., relationship commitment, emotion regulation) or dis-inhibiting (e.g., HD) influences on IPA perpetration. METHODS This United States National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded project will draw from a large and diverse cohort of SMW currently enrolled in the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women (CHLEW) study—a 21-year longitudinal study of risk factors and consequences associated with SMW’s HD. SMW currently enrolled in the CHLEW study, and their partners, will be invited to participate in the CHLEW Couples Study. Analyzing dyadic data using Actor Partner Interdependence Models (APIMs), we will examine how each partner’s minority stress, HD, and IPA experiences are associated with both her own and her partner’s minority stress, HD, and IPA perpetration. RESULTS Data collection began in February 2021 and will likely continue through 2023. Initial results should be available by mid-2024. CONCLUSIONS The CHLEW Couples Study will fill important gaps in knowledge and will provide the basis for future research aimed at clarifying the causal pathways linking HD and IPA among SMW. This will support the development of culturally appropriate targeted individual and dyadic prevention and intervention strategies.