The Associations of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) With Substance Use in Young Adults: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction: Young adulthood is a transitional period between adolescence and adulthood. Due to the unique pressures of taking on a new social role and associated uncertainties, young adults are at heightened risk for drug and alcohol use. Furthermore, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increases the likelihood of using maladaptive coping strategies such as using substances to avoid or soothe negative emotions. The current review aimed to summarize the associations between exposure to ACEs before the age of 18 years and subsequent drug or alcohol use between the ages of 18 and 25 years. Methods: The review was performed in accordance with the 2020 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The literature search of the Web of Science, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases was conducted in February 2022. Results: The initial search yielded 7178 articles, with 777 duplicates. Consequently, 6401 titles were inspected for relevance. After reading the full text, 88 articles were included in the review. Conclusion: This review provides clear evidence that exposure to multiple ACEs is a robust risk factor for the use of alcohol, cannabis and other drugs by young adults. Poor self-regulation and maladaptive coping strategies were identified as mechanisms explaining this link; however, further detailed research is needed.

Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Young Adults and Adults: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Considering that there are multiple studies regarding the impacts of ACEs in adults and young adults, they specify some topic, for example, ACEs and adult health outcomes, young people attending clinical and healthcare settings, neurocognition in borderline personality disorder, related outcomes among adults experiencing homelessness, chronic lung diseases in adulthood, childhood obesity, substance use in young adults [ 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ], and others; however we did not find any systematic review as embracing as ours. So, this literature review aims to answer the following question: “What is the impact of adverse childhood experiences on adults and young adults?”.…”