Substance use predicted by parental maltreatment, gender, and five-factor personality

The roles of extraversion and neuroticism in the relationship between childhood adversity and adolescent substance misuse

Although the influences of extraversion and neuroticism on the relationship between childhood adversity and substance misuse have been considered in adults, they are not yet clear and have not been examined among adolescent samples. This study sought to investigate the relationship between childhood adversity and adolescent substance misuse, alongside the influences of extraversion and neuroticism, using data from a longitudinal birth cohort study. Statistical analyses were performed on a longitudinal dataset provided by the Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS). After controlling for confounds, childhood adversity was a significant predictor of substance use disorder symptoms in adolescence. Moderation analyses showed that experiences of childhood adversity were most strongly associated with adolescent substance use disorder symptoms at higher levels of extraversion and at higher levels of neuroticism. Among adolescents who have experienced childhood adversity, extraversion and neuroticism may be risk factors for substance use disorder. By encouraging professionals to target adolescent substance misuse intervention and prevention approaches towards those who have experienced childhood adversity and are high in extraversion and/or neuroticism, these findings may help to diminish the prevalence of adolescent substance misuse and improve the health of adolescents.

Characteristics of Adolescents with and without a Family History of Substance Use Disorder from a Minority Cohort

Family history (FH+) of substance use disorder (SUD) is an established risk factor for offspring SUD. The extent to which offspring psychological traits or the family environment, each of which may be relevant to familial transmission of SUD risk, vary by FH+ in socioeconomically disadvantaged populations is less clear. We compared the family/social environmental and psychological characteristics of 73 FH+ and 69 FH- youth ages 12-16, from a study of parental criminal justice system involvement in a primarily low-income, minority urban population. A latent profile analysis (LPA) empirically identified groups of subjects with similar psychological characteristics, which were then compared by FH+. FH+ youths were found to have greater mean household size, greater parental psychological aggression, and a higher mean number of adverse childhood experiences, even without considering parental SUD. FH+ individuals had lower report card grades according to parental report and were more likely to have a history of externalizing disorders than FH- individuals. However, FH+ was not significantly associated with many psychological characteristics or with the class membership from the LPA. In conclusion, among a population of low-income, minority urban youth, FH+ was associated with differences in the family environment and only subtle differences in individual psychological characteristics.

Different adverse childhood experiences and adolescents' altruism: The mediating role of life history strategy

INTRODUCTION

The present study sought to investigate whether the relationship between childhood trauma, childhood socioeconomic (SES), and adolescents' altruism were mediated by their life history strategies and different adverse childhood experiences may function diversely on altruism, with two waves of data collected 6 months apart in a longitudinal design among Chinese adolescents.

METHODS

A total of 658 adolescents (Mage  = 13.51, SD = 0.73 at T1) were recruited and completed the online survey; their life history strategies were measured by the Mini-K, the Delayed of Gratification Questionnaire (DOG), and the Chinese version of the Adolescent Risk-Taking Questionnaire (ARQ-RB) together, and their altruism was collected again after six months.

RESULTS

After controlling for gender and their altruism at T1, the results showed that childhood trauma (i.e., emotional maltreatment, physical maltreatment), as well as low SES and fast life history strategy, were significantly negatively correlated with adolescents' altruism at T2. Importantly, life history strategy at T1 mediated the relationship between T1 emotional maltreatment, T1 low SES, and adolescents' altruism at T2. However, the effect of physical maltreatment on altruism was not mediated by life history strategy.

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicated that emotional maltreatment and low SES can affect adolescents' altruism by influencing the formation of adolescents' life history strategies. The findings revealed the different influences of adverse childhood experiences on adolescents' altruism, which supplied new empirical evidence for the life history theory and provided certain reference values for cultivating adolescents' altruism.

Substance use disorder and treatment in healthcare providers

ABSTRACT

Substance use disorder (SUD) is associated with innumerable risk factors and patient presentations, and is a leading cause of preventable disease. Research continues to explore the role of biochemical and social constructs that may play a role in the foundation, perpetuation, and progression of SUD in at-risk populations. Healthcare providers develop SUD at lifetime rates similar to those of the general population, but detecting common signs and symptoms may be challenging, often delaying treatment until the course becomes more complicated. Compounding this are tangible and intangible reservations to care, including clinician fear of the financial cost for treatment, lost wages, and damage to professional esteem. Nonetheless, all clinicians must be able to recognize SUD and be aware of treatments for afflicted colleagues.

The Mental Health of Emerging Adults: Hostile Home Environments and COVID-19

Purpose

Due to shifts in societal and educational expectations alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, many emerging adults live with their family of origin for extended periods of time. Little is known about patterns of parent-perpetrated maltreatment in emerging adulthood. Therefore, this study evaluates the relation between forms of parent-perpetrated maltreatment, including economic abuse, and COVID stress, on symptoms of depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress.

Method

423 emerging adults who were enrolled in college in the United States in March of 2020 were recruited via MTurk to complete an online survey. An age-related COVID questionnaire and six empirically validated measures assess levels of COVID-19 exposure, lifetime maltreatment, economic abuse, and mental health status.

Results

13.0% of participants reported maltreatment that most recently occurred over the age of 18 in their household of origin. Mean COVID stress level was found to be significantly higher in the Maltreated Over 18 group compared to the Never Maltreated group (t(345) = -3.03, p = 0.003), and in the Maltreated Under 18 group compared to the Never Maltreated group (t(346) = -3.20, p = 0.002). In accounting for the contribution of demographic variables, maltreatment chronicity, economic abuse, and COVID stress, our model predicted 38.6% of variance in depression symptoms, 37.2% of variance in anxiety symptoms, and 42.9% of variance in traumatic stress.

Conclusions

Findings indicate need for increased maltreatment screenings within the emerging adult population and calls for age-specific interventions to address the mental health disparities experienced by emerging adults with maltreatment histories.

Emerging Adult Report of Childhood Maltreatment and Related Facets of Impulsivity

Childhood maltreatment is related to a host of outcomes, many of which may be partially explained by the transdiagnostic factor of impulsivity. The research linking maltreatment to impulsivity is well supported. However, research differentiating between emotional and physical maltreatment and impulsivity is lacking, particularly with regard to facets of trait impulsivity. Thus, the current study examined the links between childhood emotional and physical maltreatment and current impulsivity traits of positive and negative urgency, lack of perseverance, lack of premeditation, and sensation seeking in emerging adults. Furthermore, effects of maltreatment are known to differ by the gender of the parent and the gender of the child. Thus, differences between parent-emerging adult child gender dyads were also examined. Results suggested both physical and emotional maltreatment were associated with negative urgency across the parent-child gender dyads. Emotional maltreatment and physical maltreatment differed in relation to impulsivity facet across parent and child gender. Results contribute to a knowledge base to use in future exploration of emotional and physical maltreatment outcomes and targets of intervention.

Multi-type childhood maltreatment exposure and substance use development from adolescence to early adulthood: A GxE study

BACKGROUND

Childhood maltreatment types can co-occur and are associated with increased substance use during adolescence and early adulthood. There is also a strong genetic basis for substance use which interacts with environmental factors (e.g., childhood maltreatment) to influence substance use phenotype.

OBJECTIVE

This research aimed to identify childhood maltreatment sub-groups based on type and chronicity, and their association with substance use change from adolescence to early adulthood, while accounting for the influence of substance use polygenic risk (i.e., genetic risk based on the combined effects of multiple genes).

PARTICIPANTS

We used a sample of unrelated European-origin Americans with genetic and childhood maltreatment data (n = 2,664) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health.

METHODS

Latent profile analysis was used for sub-group identification and direct and interaction effects were tested for longitudinal trajectories of substance use utilizing generalized estimating equations.

RESULTS

Three sub-groups with co-occurring childhood maltreatment exposures were identified: a high sexual abuse sub-group, a high physical abuse sub-group, and a normative sub-group (with low maltreatment exposure). At high polygenic risk, the high physical abuse sub-group had faster increases in substance use over time. In comparison, the high sexual abuse sub-group had faster progression in substance use only at low and medium polygenic risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings provide initial evidence for biological and environmental differences among maltreatment sub-groups on trajectories of substance use.

The cannabinoid receptor-1 gene interacts with stressful life events to increase the risk for problematic alcohol use

Problematic alcohol use is a major contributor to the global burden of death and disabilities, and it represents a public health concern that has grown substantially following the COVID-19 pandemic. The available treatment options remain limited and to develop better pharmacotherapies for alcohol misuse we need to identify suitable biological targets. Previous research has implicated the brain’s endocannabinoid system (ECS) in psychiatric and stress-related outcomes, including substance use and habituation to repeated stress. Moreover, genetic variants in the cannabinoid-1 receptor gene (CNR1; CB1R) have been associated with personality traits, which are in turn predictors of substance use disorders. To date, however, no human genome-wide association study has provided evidence for an involvement of the ECS in substance use outcomes. One reason for this ECS-related “missing heritability” may be unexamined gene-environment interactions. To explore this possibility, we conducted cross-sectional analyses using DNA samples and stress-exposure data from a longitudinal Swedish population-based study (N = 2,915). Specifically, we genotyped rs2023239, a functional C/T single nucleotide polymorphism in CNR1, previously reported to be associated with CNR1 binding in the brain, subjective reward following alcohol intake, and alcohol cue-elicited brain activation. Our two outcomes of interest were (i) problematic alcohol use based on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and (ii) personality trait scores based on the Five Factor Model. We found no baseline association between rs2023239 and problematic alcohol use or personality traits. However, there was a clear trend for interaction between rs2023239’s risk allele (C) and stressful life events (SLEs) in both childhood and adulthood, which predicted problematic alcohol use. Although not significant, there was also some indication that the risk allele interacted with child SLEs to increase scores on neuroticism. Our study supports the notion that the ECS can affect alcohol intake behaviors by interacting with life adversities and is—to the best of our knowledge—the first to focus on the interaction between CNR1 and stressors in both childhood and adulthood in humans. Further studies are warranted to confirm these findings.

Emotional intelligence, resilience and personality traits neuroticism and extraversion: predictive capacity in perceived academic efficacy

BACKGROUND

Recent studies have shown the importance of promoting emotional intelligence and resilience, as well as knowing the personality (extraversion versus emotional instability or neuroticism) in both nursing students and nursing professionals, for better academic adherence, due to stressful situations derived from high academic and attendance requirements for healthcare practices in clinical settings. However, there is little research that analyzes the importance of the perceived academic effectiveness of university students and its relationship with the psychological variables of resilience, emotional intelligence and personality.

OBJECTIVE

To analyse the relationships between perceived academic efficacy, emotional intelligence (EI), resilience and the personality factors of emotional instability and extraversion, as well as to observe the variables that predict perceived academic efficacy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Cross-sectional study on a sample of 434 nursing students in Valencia (Spain) aged 17-54 (M = 21; SD = 0.320). They filled in standard tests on perceived academic efficacy, EI, resilience, emotional instability and extraversion.

RESULTS

Perceived academic efficacy is closely and positively related to EI and resilience; and to a lesser extent to emotional instability, but negatively. The academic efficacy predictor variables were EI (global trait, well-being and sociability), resilience (social support and emotional regulation) and emotional instability (R² of 0.201).

CONCLUSIONS

Perceived academic efficacy is fundamentally related to EI and resilience positively, and to a lesser extent to emotional instability negatively, fundamentally via these factors: global trait, social support, well-being, problem-solving capacity. Nursing students' perception of academic efficacy is relevant for building professional skills and carrying out the nurse's role in organisations. So, it is necessary to promote training programs to increase the emotional intelligence and resilience of nursing students, aimed at promoting competence in professional practice.

An Integrated Model of Nature and Nurture Factors that Contribute to Addiction and Recovery

BACKGROUND

In the context of the opioid epidemic and growing awareness of addiction as a public health concern, there are efforts to inform the public, patients, families, and policy makers about the factors that contribute to addiction and facilitate recovery. Several theoretical models provide useful frameworks for this discussion, but each of them has limitations.

OBJECTIVES

This paper presents an accessible yet comprehensive theoretical model that integrates empirical evidence about addiction etiology and recovery using the nature-nurture paradigm.

RESULTS

The model presents substance use along a continuum, and identifies risk and protective factors in multiple domains that have been identified by research. The domains on the nature side of the model include genetic and biological factors, comorbid psychiatric and medical disorders, physiological reinforcement of substance use, and changes to neural mechanisms. The domains on the nurture side of the model include sociocultural factors, environmental factors, personality, emotions, cognitions, psychological reinforcement of substance use, and cognitive and behavioral changes. The progression from increased or decreased substance use to addiction or recovery is mediated by changes in neural mechanisms and cognitive and behavioral changes, which have feedback loops with the physiological and psychological reinforcement.Conclusions/Importance: This model is a useful heuristic, consistent with a public health framework, for discussing addiction and recovery with patients, their families, and the public. This integrated model of nature and nurture factors has the potential to inform clinical practice, consultation, research, prevention programs, educational programs, and public policy.

Assessment of coexisting psychosis and substance misuse: complexities, challenges and causality

Substance misuse worsens the prognosis for people suffering psychosis and places them at risk of being denied appropriate mental health service interventions. To increase the chances of its success, the plan of management for patients with coexisting psychosis and substance misuse should be based on a valid formulation of their problems, which in turn is dependent on the clinician having (a) a thorough understanding of the bidirectional and changing ways that substance use and mental illness symptoms can interact, (b) an awareness of their own biased implicit assumptions about causality in explaining these interactions and (c) a framework for assessment and formulation. This article addresses these three areas with reference to the evidence base and to clinical experience in a way that guides mental health clinicians in the assessment of patients with coexisting psychosis and substance misuse.

Relationships Among Emerging Adult Psychological Problems, Maltreatment, and Parental Psychopathology: Moderation by Parent-Child Relationship Quality

Current research supports clear relationships between parental psychopathology, parental maltreatment, and emerging adult child psychopathology. Less research has examined how the role of the parent-child relationship influences these existing associations. The current study tested two models that examined the moderating effect of parent-child relationship quality on parental psychopathology and emerging adult mental health as well as the effect on parental maltreatment and emerging adult mental health. It was expected that high parent-child relationship quality would buffer against the negative effects of parental psychopathology and maltreatment while enhancing the effects of functional parenting characteristics. Participants included 1,452 emerging adults, predominantly Caucasian (73.3%) college students who completed surveys on their mental health, recent experienced maltreatment, and their parents' mental health problems. Results suggested lowest rates of mental health problems for emerging adults were associated with higher parent-child relationship quality and lower parental psychological problems, whereas negative outcomes were associated with higher parental psychopathology, regardless of parent-child relationship quality. Additionally, physical maltreatment was associated with lower rates of mental health concerns in the context of higher mother-daughter relationship quality. Results emphasize the continuing impact of the parent-child relationship, particularly the mother-daughter relationship, on emerging adults' mental health. Moreover, the current study demonstrates the continuing influence of parents on their emerging adult children.

Concordance between parents in offspring maltreatment as perceived by emerging adult college students

BACKGROUND

Many studies have examined the link between childhood maltreatment and outcomes, but few have focused on children who experience maltreatment from both their mothers and fathers and how they might differ from children who experience maltreatment from one parent only. Even fewer studies have used dyadic concordance types (e.g., pairs of parents engaging in a behavior or not) to examine how offspring maltreatment impacts offspring psychological problems.

OBJECTIVE

The current study examined the effects of adult offspring physical and psychological maltreatment as perpetrated by mothers only, fathers only, both parents, and neither parent over the past year on emerging adult college student psychological problems while examining parent and adult offspring gender effects.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Participants included 2374 emerging adult college students at a Southern university.

METHODS

Participants reported on their parents' past year use of physical assault and psychological aggression against them as well as their own psychological problems.

RESULTS

Results suggest that the highest frequency of reported maltreatment occurred from both parents and not one parent only. Males reported higher maltreatment than females except when examining psychological aggression from mothers only, where females reported double the rate as males. Generally, emerging adult college students who reported physical assault or psychological aggression by both parents also reported the highest depressive, anxiety, and antisocial problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, results generally indicated that maltreatment experienced from both parents was associated with more severe psychological outcomes than if experienced from only one parent.