Alcohol, Drugs, and Violence: A Meta-Meta-Analysis.

Objective: The aim of this project was to provide a comprehensive overview and quantitative synthesis of the links between alcohol, drugs, and violence with established meta-meta-analysis methodology. Gender, psychotic illness (present vs. absent), role (perpetrator vs. victim), substance (alcohol, drugs, or both), operationalizations of violence (e.g., laboratory observed violence, community reported violence, homicide records, etc.), and study design (experimental, case-control, cross-sectional, and longitudinal) were evaluated as potential moderators. Method and Results: An extensive literature search resulted in 32 meta-analyses that met our inclusion criteria (i.e., quantitatively synthesized research assessing the link between alcohol or illicit drug use and violence perpetration/victimization) demonstrated a significant relationship between substance use and violence (grand weighted mean effect size of d = 0.45, 95% CI [0.36, 0.54], p