RT Article
T1 Distinct Psychological Profiles Linking Childhood Adversity and Substance Misuse in High-Risk Young Adults
JF Journal of family violence
VO 38
IS 4
SP 633
OP 645
A1 van Zyl, Tara-Lynne
A2 O’Neill, Tara
A2 Rushe, Teresa
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1842552511
AB Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) constitute a key determinant in the development of substance misuse. However, the understanding of how ACEs cultivate this risk lacks the specificity needed to inform effective prevention and intervention practices. This issue may be remedied by exploring the distinction between ACEs and their effects on development. The present study investigated whether distinct patterns of adversity are differentially associated with substance misuse along unique profiles of psychological variables, namely anxiety and punishment sensitivity – an internalizing profile – versus reward sensitivity and executive functioning – an externalizing profile. Using a cross-sectional retrospective design, 124 high-risk young adults completed assessments of childhood adversity and psychological functioning. We employed the ACE-IQ to capture extended ACEs such as community and collective violence, as our sample grew up in the post-conflict society of Northern Ireland. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed three patterns of adversity co-occurrence – Childhood Maltreatment, Household Dysfunction and Community Adversity, all of which independently predicted different types of substance misuse. Childhood Maltreatment was significantly associated with heavy drug use probability; Household Dysfunction was associated with cannabis dependence probability; and Community Adversity was associated with both cannabis dependence and heavy drug use probability. Logistic regressions (all p < .05) showed that heavy drug use probability was predicted by Childhood Maltreatment and anxiety in one model, and by Community Adversity and reduced punishment sensitivity in another, suggesting that different types of ACEs were associated with partially distinct outcomes in this sample. These results support the proposal that different ACE subtypes confer distinct effects, which carries clinical implications for substance misuse prevention and intervention.
K1 Young adults
K1 Substance misuse
K1 Community adversity
K1 Household dysfunction
K1 childhood maltreatment
K1 adverse childhood experiences
DO 10.1007/s10896-022-00397-3