Childhood Interpersonal Trauma and Substance Abuse

描述（由申请人提供）：许多研究报告了童年虐待和成年后的物质使用之间的显着关联。然而，人们对儿童期虐待与青年期药物使用之间的具体联系机制仍然知之甚少。本研究的总体目标是检查是否协会是由个人的自我调节过程介导的。由于年轻人在年轻的成年期比以往任何时候都有更大的自由，从社会控制和父母的监督，明确自我调节的作用是我们的理解升级的物质使用在年轻的成年期儿童虐待的受害者之间的核心。如果自我调节可以被确定为一种机制，通过这种机制，儿童期遭受虐待会影响成年后的药物使用，并且可以具体说明自我调节过程的关键方面，就可以制定新的干预方法。这项研究的独特新颖之处包括强调在成瘾研究中被忽视的情绪自我调节，一个全面的四维自我调节概念（即，良好的情绪自我调节、不良的情绪自我调节、良好的行为自我调节和不良的行为自我调节），而其他研究只关注一个或两个维度，并对儿童期虐待进行全面衡量，包括虐待的时间、持续时间、严重程度和类型。使用160名医学上健康的年轻人的社区样本（18-25岁），其中有童年虐待经历者（N=80）和无童年虐待经历者（N=80），本研究的目的是：（1）探讨童年虐待经历是否与不良的情绪和/或行为自我调节过程有关; 2）调查不良的情绪和/或行为自我调节过程是否与青少年时期的药物使用有关;和3）检查童年虐待与青少年时期药物使用之间的关联是否由情绪和/或行为自我调节过程介导。为了更严格地评估四种类型的自我调节过程在理解儿童期虐待和物质使用并发症中的作用，我们还测试了其他机制，包括创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）和反社会行为。目前的研究结果有助于解释四种类型的自我调节中哪一种更能预测年轻人的物质使用。 公共卫生相关性：这项研究旨在阐明童年遭受虐待与成年后使用药物之间的关系。假设连接这种关系的主要因素是个人的自我调节能力。这项研究的结果将有助于确定干预目标，以防止物质使用在年轻的成年人，通过加强受虐待的个人的自我调节过程。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Many studies have reported a significant association between childhood maltreatment and substance use in young adulthood. However, the specific mechanisms connecting childhood maltreatment with substance use in young adulthood remains poorly understood. The overall goal of this study is to examine whether the association is mediated by individual self-regulation processes. Since young people have much greater freedom from social control and parental monitoring during young adulthood than they ever did in the past, clarity about the role of self-regulation is central to our understanding of escalated substance use in young adulthood among victims of childhood maltreatment. If self-regulation can be identified as a mechanism through which exposure to childhood maltreatment influences substance use later in young adulthood, and key aspects of self-regulation processes can be specified, new intervention approaches can be developed. Unique novel features of this study include an emphasis on emotional self-regulation which has been overlooked in addiction research, a comprehensive four-dimensional conception of self-regulation (i.e., good emotional self-regulation, poor emotional self-regulation, good behavioral self-regulation, and poor behavioral self-regulation) in contrast to other research that focuses on only one or two dimensions, and comprehensive measures of childhood maltreatment including timing, duration, severity, and types of maltreatment. Using a community sample of 160 medically healthy young adults (ages 18-25), half with exposure to childhood maltreatment (N=80), and half without exposure to childhood maltreatment (N=80), this study has the following aims: (1) To examine if the presence of childhood maltreatment is associated with poor emotional and/or behavioral self-regulation processes; 2) To investigate if poor emotional and/or behavioral self-regulation processes are associated with substance use in young adulthood; and 3) To examine if the association between childhood maltreatment and substance use in young adulthood are mediated by emotional and/or behavioral self-regulation processes. For more rigorous evaluation of the role of four types of self-regulation processes in understanding childhood maltreatment and substance use comorbidity in young adulthood, we also test alternative mechanisms including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and antisocial behavior. The findings of the current study help to explain which of four types of self-regulation are more predictive of substance use in young adulthood. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This research is designed to elucidate the relationship between exposure to childhood maltreatment and substance use in young adulthood. The primary factor postulated to link this relationship is individual self- regulation capacities. The results of this research will help determine intervention targets to prevent substance use in young adulthood by enhancing maltreated individuals' self-regulation processes.