Childhood Emotional Abuse and Maladaptive Coping in Adults Seeking Treatment for Substance Use Disorder

Reported history of childhood trauma, mentalizing deficits, and hypersomnia in adulthood: A mediational analysis in a nonclinical sample

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Existing research has confirmed the link between childhood trauma and poor sleep quality in adulthood. This study focused on the relationship between childhood trauma and hypersomnia specifically, which is understudied. Additionally, childhood maltreatment has been related to mentalizing deficits. The current study examined the role of mentalizing deficits as mediators between childhood trauma and hypersomnia.

METHOD

The study sample of this cross-sectional study consisted of 496 individuals, who participated in the online survey, which contained the following measures: Persian version of the Mini Sleep Questionnaire, Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8), and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ).

RESULTS

The results from structural equation modeling indicated that emotional abuse positively predicts hypersomnia. Mediation analysis confirmed that hypo-mentalizing partially mediates the association between emotional abuse and hypersomnia.

CONCLUSION

The present study provides primary evidence that experiencing emotional abuse during childhood is associated with hypersomnia in adulthood. This association underlines the importance of prevention. The result from mediation analysis suggests addressing mentalizing impairments in patients with hypersomnia and a history of emotional abuse may be helpful.

Perceived racial discrimination and polysubstance use among racial/ethnic minority adolescents in the United States

OBJECTIVE

Polysubstance use among adolescents is a significant public health concern, yet most studies on adolescent substance use focus on a singular substance. This study is one of the first to investigate the association between perceived racial discrimination (PRD) in school and polysubstance use among racial/ethnic minority adolescents using a nationally representative sample.

METHODS

Data was from the 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey. The sample included 4145 racial/ethnic minority adolescents (52.8% female). Hierarchical binary logistic regression was used to examine the association between PRD in school and polysubstance use among racial/ethnic minority adolescents.

RESULTS

About 12% of racial/ethnic minority adolescents engaged in polysubstance use and 23.4% reported experiencing PRD in school sometimes/most of the time/always. Controlling for other factors, experiencing PRD in school sometimes/most of the time/always was associated with 1.52 times higher odds of polysubstance use when compared to adolescents who never experienced PRD in school (OR=1.52, p=.044, 95% CI=1.01-2.30). Cyberbullying victimization, symptoms of depression, and being emotionally abused by a parent during COVID-19 were also associated with polysubstance use.

CONCLUSION

Controlling for demographic characteristics and psychosocial stressors, PRD in school was significantly associated with higher odds of polysubstance use among racial/ethnic minority adolescents. The findings of this study could inform clinicians and policymakers of the association between PRD in school and polysubstance use, which could contribute to early identification of polysubstance use among racial/ethnic minority adolescents.

The relationship between child maltreatment and social anxiety: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Globally, child maltreatment has become a serious problem, affecting individuals' physical and mental health. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the association between child maltreatment and social anxiety.

METHODS

MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for articles published by October 2021. Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) was used to evaluate the quality of studies. Maltreatment type, sample setting, age, country and measurement instruments were analyzed as moderators.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Child maltreatment was positively correlated with social anxiety (r = 0.201, 95 % CI [0.171, 0.230]). The moderating effect of maltreatment subtypes was significant whether divided into three types (Q_b = 12.152, p = .002), or five types (Q_b = 11.574, p = .021). Specifically, emotional maltreatment (r = 0.251, 95 % CI [0.201, 0.298]) had a stronger relationship with social anxiety than physical (r = 0.138, 95 % CI [0.085, 0.191]; Q_b = 9.312, p = .002) and sexual maltreatment (r = 0.153, 95 % CI [0.108, 0.197]; Q_b = 9.197, p = .002). However, there was no significant difference in the effect size between physical and sexual maltreatment (Q_b = 0.096, p = .757). Other variables (age, sample setting and country) were not significant moderators.

LIMITATIONS

Only twenty-nine studies were included, and there was high heterogeneity among the studies, the interpretation of the results should be cautious.

CONCLUSIONS

This meta-analysis confirmed the relationship between child maltreatment and social anxiety, especially highlight the harmfulness of emotional maltreatment.

Complex childhood trauma, gender and depression: Patterns and correlates of help-seeking and maladaptive coping

BACKGROUND

Little is known about access to treatment or maladaptive coping amongst those with a history of childhood trauma and subsequent depressive disorder, which is often complicated by post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

AIMS

To (1) identify profiles of complex childhood trauma amongst men and women with major depression, (2) examine patterns of service access and treatment or maladaptive coping (drug misuse, alcohol abuse or suicidality), and (3) associations with socio-economic/demographic characteristics, comorbid PTSD, anxiety/mood disorders and perceived social support.

METHOD

Analysis of Wave 3 of the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions (NESARC) (2012-2013). We use the Latent Class Analysis 3-step approach in Mplus to examine individual differences in childhood experiences and coping behaviour. We examined both (a) the inter-relationship of this patterning, and (b) the extent to which proactive and maladaptive coping are associated with socio-economic/demographic characteristics, comorbid PTSD, anxiety disorders and perceived social support.

RESULTS

a diagnosis of Major Depression was recorded for 7432 people, two thirds of whom reported a history of complex childhood trauma. Maladaptive coping is associated with the most severe trauma groups, comorbid PTSD, dysthymia, and anxiety disorders.

CONCLUSION

Given the evidence of the current study, suggesting a poorer treatment course for depression in adults with complex childhood trauma, early screening for a trauma history will facilitate preventive efforts before onset of depression, possibly mitigating a poorer treatment course.

Childhood Mistreatment, PTSD, and Substance Use in Latinx: The Role of Discrimination in an Omitted-Variable Bias

BACKGROUND

Childhood mistreatment (CM) has been associated with adult posttraumatic disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) in the general population. Few studies have examined the role of PTSD in the CM-SUD association among Latinx. This cross-sectional study evaluated a theory-driven conceptual model with a specific focus on the impact of perceived discrimination, which may interfere with these associations.

METHOD

Using a nationally representative sample and structural equation modeling (SEM), the study evaluated the mediation of PTSD in the CM-SUD link, adjusting for or omitting discrimination and other sociodemographic variables that are known predictors of Latinx behavioral health. Multi-subsample analyses were then conducted to review nativity differences (US-born = 924.43% and immigrant = 1630.57%).

RESULTS

The fully specified final model (model 1, covariates adjusted) failed to show a significant mediation of PTSD in the tested link, but a direct detrimental effect group of discrimination, for all Latinx. The mediation was only supported, when treating discrimination and other covariates as omitted variables (model 5), which also showed additional direct and indirect effect of CM on SUD. In subsample analyses, models of US-born and immigrant-Latinx subpopulations were identical but showed nativity differences when omitting covariates.

CONCLUSION

When discrimination and other covariates were fully adjusted, Latinx exposed to trauma were more likely to develop SUD in adulthood, regardless of when traumatic exposure occurred. This unexpected finding challenges theories explaining the CM-SUD connection, suggesting possible model misspecifications of parametric SES; namely, omitting the unique impact of perceived discrimination in Latinx can lead to biased results. From a clinical standpoint, both trauma and discrimination must be addressed when assessing Latinx behavioral health.