Heart Rate Response to Alcohol and Intoxicated Aggressive Behavior

BACKGROUND: This study examined the elevated heart rate (HR) response to alcohol intoxication, thought to reflect an increased sensitivity to alcohol-induced reward, as a potential factor in the increased likelihood of alcohol-induced aggression. METHODS: Three groups, intoxicated high (n=37) and low (n=37) HR responders and sober controls (n=73), participated in a laboratory measure of physical aggression, the Taylor Aggression Paradigm. RESULTS: Results revealed that intoxicated high HR responders were more aggressive than the intoxicated low HR responders and sober controls. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are interpreted within a hypothetical model relating increased alcohol-induced aggression to a dysregulation in the motivational system responding to rewards.