RESEARCH

The REACH Lab investigates the co-occurrence of alcohol use and intimate partner violence (IPV), including psychological, cyber, physical, and sexual IPV/sexual assault. Our long-term goal is to translate theoretically- and empirically-derived mechanisms of alcohol-related intimate partner violence/sexual assault into accessible, efficacious prevention and intervention programming. We leverage intensive longitudinal methods, such as ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and daily diary designs, to answer the question, "what is happening in the days, hours, and moments before drinking episodes and IPV/sexual assault perpetration that may be targeted in interventions to reduce future alcohol-related IPV events?" We aim to optimize EMA methods for detecting and interfering with intra- and interpersonal processes that potentiate alcohol-related IPV/sexual assault. Although most of our research involves EMA, members of our lab also incorporate other methods of data collection to assess alcohol-related IPV, including qualitative interviewing, self- and partner-report, and experimental paradigms. Recently, we began examining individual and couple-level experiences that contribute to disparities seen in alcohol misuse and IPV. Long-term, we aim for this line of our research to contribute to more effective alcohol misuse and IPV prevention and intervention programs.

Our research has been funded by internal and external funding mechanisms, including the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism (NIAAA; R21AA030858; R21AA031548), the American Psychological Foundation (Visionary Grant), and various centers at Virginia Tech (e.g., Center for Peace Studies & Violence Prevention; Institute for Society, Culture, & Environment; Whole Health Consortium).

Areas of Interest:

Alcohol/Drug Use
IPV (psychological, cyber, physical, sexual)
Emotion Regulation
Jealousy/Infidelity
Couples
Trauma
Alcohol- and IPV-related health disparities

For a complete list of Dr. Brem's publications visit Google Scholar

or ResearchGate

Selected Publications

Brem, M. J., McCarthy, D. M., Shorey, R. C., Lin, M., Lozano, A. J., Sjafii, E., & Tobar-Santamaria, A. (in press). The feasibility of integrating remote breath alcohol monitoring into ecological momentary assessment of intimate partner violence among young adults with a history of heavy drinking and aggression. Addiction. doi: 10.1111/add.70357

Conclusion: Pairing ecological momentary assessment with portable breathalyzers to capture data on drinking and intimate partner violence across 30 days among US undergraduates who were previously aggressive and who drink heavily is both feasible and acceptable.

Brem, M. J., Shaw, T. J., & Tobar-Santamaria, A. (2025). Does cyber dating abuse victimization predict next-day alcohol and cannabis use among college students? American Journal on Addictions, 34(3), 297-304. doi: 10.1111/ajad.13672.

Conclusion: Among men, cyber dating abuse victimization predicted next-day cannabis use but negatively related to the number of drinks consumed the following day. Among women, cyber dating abuse victimization did not relate to next-day cannabis or alcohol use.

Brem, M. J. (2025). I get drunk on jealousy: Daily jealousy as a proximal antecedent to emerging adults’ intimate partner violence perpetration. Journal of Family Violence. Online ahead of print. doi: 10.1007/s10896-025-00893-2.

Conclusion: Greater-than-typical jealousy proximally and prospectively associated with psychological, cyber, and sexual IPV perpetration among emerging adults. Daily jealousy was a stronger proximal antecedent of IPV than was daily alcohol use.

Brem, M. J., Shorey, R. C., Ramsey, S. E., & Stuart, G. L. (2023). Randomized clinical trial examining the efficacy of a brief alcohol intervention as an adjunct to batterer intervention for women arrested for domestic violence. Psychosocial Intervention, 32(2), 79-88. doi: 10.5093/pi2023a4.

Conclusion: Adding a brief alcohol intervention improved batterer intervention outcomes for women arrested for domestic violence. Women who received the brief alcohol intervention reported less drug and alcohol use, perpetrated less physical IPV, and experienced fewer IPV-related injuries up to 12 months post-treatment compared to women who only completed standard batterer intervention.

Brem, M. J., Tobar-Santamaria, A., Shaw, T. J., & Mongan, L. (2024). The proximal association between cyber and in-person IPV among college students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 40(17-18), 4033-4058. doi: 10.1177/08862605241284663.

Conclusion: Cyber IPV perpetration positively associated with odds of same-day psychological IPV perpetration and next-day sexual IPV perpetration. Cyber IPV victimization positively associated with odds of same-day psychological IPV victimization. College students experience IPV both online and in-person within a single day.

Brem, M. J., Shorey, R. C., McNulty, J., Elledge, L. C., Temple, J., & Stuart, G. L. (2022). Proximal associations among college students’ alcohol use and cyber partner abuse perpetration. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 36(7), 815–823. doi: 10.1037/adb0000818.

Conclusion: Neither drinking more alcohol than one usually drinks on a given day nor higher average alcohol use associated with odds of subsequent cyber partner abuse perpetration. Cyber partner abuse perpetration odds increased as the number of drinks consumed increased, regardless of whether drinking occurred before or after cyber partner abuse, suggesting that cyber partner abuse perpetration may confer risk for subsequent alcohol use.