Subjects were 320 married and cohabiting men who participated in a nationally representative study of alcohol consumption in young men. A series of short versions of personality measures were administered to subjects. Alcohol use was measured with the Alcohol Dependence Scale (ADS), a 25-item scale derived from the use of factor analysis of the Alcohol Use Inventory. Marital satisfaction was assessed with the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test. Within the context of items that assessed various experiences the subject may have had while drinking and while sober were several that concerned his relationship with his spouse or partner. Two of these items focused on aggression within the relationship. They determined whether or not the subjects had ever hit their spouses while drinking or while sober. The results indicate that alcohol use was strongly related to marital aggression. Further, scores on the ADS interacted with hostility and marital satisfaction to predict marital aggression, with ADS scores related to marital aggression among men who scored high on hostility or low on marital satisfaction. 2 tables, 4 notes, and 38 references