Associations Between Childhood Trauma and the Age of First-Time Drug Use in Methamphetamine-Dependent Patients

Abstract

Childhood trauma is related to substance use disorder; however, few studies have examined the relationship between childhood trauma and the age at which the drug was first used. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between childhood trauma and the age of first-time drug use among methamphetamine-dependent patients. Moreover, we analyzed the characteristics of adverse family environment associated with severe childhood trauma and the risk factors for starting drugs in minors. A baseline interview was conducted with 110 participants who were in detoxification, including demographic information, past substance use, and age of first-time drug use. The participants' childhood trauma experience before 18 years of age was evaluated using the simplified version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF). The Chinese version of the Family Environment Scale (FES-CV) was used to assess the family environment of methamphetamine-dependent patients. Among 110 non-injecting methamphetamine-dependent patients, nearly half (n = 48, 43.6%) had moderate and severe childhood trauma. Correlation analysis showed that the age of first-time drug use negatively correlated with emotional abuse (r = −0.32, p < 0.01) and physical abuse (r = −0.27, p < 0.01). The age of first-time drug use negatively correlated with conflict (r = −0.20, p < 0.05) and independence (r = −0.22, p < 0.05) of family environment, but positively correlated with intellectual-cultural orientation (r = 0.28, p < 0.01). Additionally, childhood trauma factors significantly correlated with many indexes of family environment, especially cohesion (r = −0.45, p < 0.01), conflict (r = 0.49, p < 0.01), and independence (r = 0.33, p < 0.01). Additionally, the regression model showed that when emotional abuse increased by one point, the age of first-time drug use was 0.69 years earlier. These findings suggest that a detrimental family environment can aggravate childhood trauma, and the experience of childhood emotional or physical abuse may be an effective predictor of early drug use among methamphetamine-dependent patients.

Childhood Trauma and Non-suicidal Self-Injury Among Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Psychological Sub-health

“…There was also the possibility of being molested as a child, or even being coerced into doing something sexual. Numerous studies have shown that childhood trauma can lead to extensive adverse and lasting effects, such as chronic fatigue syndrome ( 17 ), poor academic achievements ( 18 ), adulthood depression and anxiety symptoms ( 19 ), and early drug use ( 20 ). Childhood trauma undermines children's ability to develop positive adaptations, and in turn, the vulnerability of children's adaptive resources leads them to adopt flawed alternative regulatory and relational strategies such as NSSI ( 21 ).…”

Mental health characteristics and their associations with childhood trauma among subgroups of people living with HIV in China

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The dilution effects of healthy lifestyles on the risk of depression attributed to life-course disadvantages among Chinese middle-aged and older adults

“…Numerous studies have shown that stressful life events are associated with substance abuse and poor sleep quality 28,29 . However, related studies in China have focused more on the effects of adverse childhood experiences 25,30 . Limited evidence has indicated that life-course disadvantages are associated with unreasonable sleep, ever smoking, and heavy alcohol consumption in middle-aged and older Chinese, as was verified in this study.…”

“…The copyright holder for this this version posted September 14, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.14.22279926 doi: medRxiv preprint assigned as 0-3, for a total score of 0 to 30. Depression was then defined as a score ≥10 25,26 .…”