Abuse in childhood linked to a higher risk of substance abuse in adulthood

According to a recent Addiction Research shows that people exposed to emotional abuse or neglect during childhood are nearly three times more likely to be hospitalized for alcohol and substance abuse by the time they are 40 years old, compared to those who had a normal childhood.

In a press release, lead author Claudia Bull from the Queensland Center for Mental Health Research said: said: “Most of the previous research on childhood adversity and alcohol and substance use disorders has focused on physical and sexual abuse. In particular, we wanted to know whether emotional abuse and neglect were equally strongly associated with subsequent alcohol and substance use disorders. As we suspected, the odds of hospitalization for alcohol and substance abuse are similar across all subtypes of childhood abuse and neglect.”

Bull and colleagues analyzed data from more than 6,000 children born in Brisbane, Australia, between 1981 and 1983. Of those, 10% or 609 study participants had at least one report of child abuse until age 15, which was reported or substantiated by child protection services . When the researchers compared them to the rest of the group, they found that these 609 individuals were 2.86 times more likely to end up in the hospital for alcohol use disorders and 3.34 times more likely to require inpatient treatment for a substance abuse disorder. Among those who had more than two agency reports of abuse, the odds were more than three times higher for alcohol and substance use disorders.

The researchers divided child abuse into four categories: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. The study found that the risk of being hospitalized for alcohol use disorder was highest (3.48 times more likely) among individuals who survived sexual abuse before the age of 16. On the other hand, emotional abuse before age 16 was associated with a 3.10 times higher odds of hospitalization for a substance use disorder.

According to the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 40.3 million Americans age 12 or older had a substance use disorder in the past year. That means one in seven Americans age 12 or older have reported experiencing a substance use disorder, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC estimates that 1 in 6 adults in the US binge drink on a weekly or occasional basis.

A 2020 study published in Addictive behavior also reported that childhood maltreatment is associated with higher levels of substance use-related negative consequences and that maltreated adolescents use more alcohol and substances compared to peers raised in healthy environments.

The World Health Organization defines child abuse as “all forms of physical and/or emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the health, survival, development or dignity of the child in the context of the relationship between responsibility, trust or power.”