Three potential mediators of the effects of child abuse and neglect on adulthood substance use among women.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined mechanisms that might account for the association between early childhood abuse and neglect, and substance use and related problems in adulthood for women.


METHODS
Women with documented cases of early childhood abuse and/or neglect and matched controls were interviewed in young adulthood (mean age=29 years) and again in middle adulthood (mean age=40) (n=582). We examined the mediating effects of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, stressful life events, and delinquent and criminal behavior measured in young adulthood on substance use-related problems and illicit drug use measured in middle adulthood.


RESULTS
We found that all three potential mediators mediated the effects of abuse and neglect on substance-use problems and illicit drug use. When all three mediators were considered simultaneously, only stressful life events mediated the effects of child abuse and neglect for substance use-related problems and PTSD mediated for illicit drug use. These relationships were not moderated by race/ethnicity, although the effects of abuse and neglect on the mediators differed for white and non-white women.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that interventions are needed with maltreated girls to recognize and attend to their PTSD symptoms and to assist them in developing coping strategies to deal with stressful life events in an attempt to reduce risk of subsequent substance use and related problems.
White
Helene Raskin
HR
Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 607 Allison Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8001, USA. hewhite@rci.rutgers.edu
Widom
Cathy Spatz
CS
D000328:Adult; D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology; D008016:Life Change Events; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology
D013287:Illicit Drugs