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.