GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy are best known for helping people lose weight and manage diabetes, but research from Rutgers University suggests they may also be linked to changes in behaviors associated with violence.
The study, published in the journal Criminology, set out to investigate whether GLP-1 receptor agonists influence violent behavior in adults by altering the effects of two factors strongly tied to violence: impulsivity and alcohol consumption.
Researchers analyzed data from a 2025 survey of 7,521 adults across the United States, narrowing their main analysis to 821 people who had used a GLP-1 medication at some point. They compared current users against former users, examining how the drugs affected the relationship between violent behavior, impulsivity, and alcohol use. Violent behavior was measured using a validated self-report tool covering actions like fighting, assault, and robbery.
The clearest result centered on impulsivity. “The strongest finding in the study was that the well-established link between impulsivity and violent behavior was substantially weaker among current GLP-1 users compared to former users,” said Daniel Semenza, the study’s lead author and director of research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at the Rutgers School of Public Health.
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That link was about 62% weaker among people currently taking the medications. The connection between alcohol use and violent behavior was also weaker, by about 52%, among current users, though the researchers noted that result was less consistent across additional sensitivity analyses.
“As GLP-1 drugs become increasingly widespread, it is important to understand all of their potential behavioral effects, including those relevant to public safety,” Semenza said.
Co-author Christopher Thomas, an assistant professor at Rutgers University-Camden, offered a possible explanation for the pattern: “Our findings are consistent with these medications working like cognitive behavioral therapy, weakening the path from impulse to action rather than eliminating impulsivity itself.”
The researchers were careful to note what the study cannot show. Because the design was observational and cross-sectional, it can identify associations but not prove that GLP-1 medications directly cause a drop in violent behavior.
Future longitudinal and experimental research, the team said, will be needed to confirm whether the drugs genuinely lower violence risk and to pin down the biological and behavioral mechanisms that might explain it.
