Developmental pathways from child maltreatment to adolescent substance use: The roles of posttraumatic stress symptoms and mother-child relationships

Abstract

While many studies have identified a significant relation between child maltreatment and adolescent substance use, the developmental pathways linking this relation remain sparsely explored. The current study examines posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, mother-child relationships, and internalizing and externalizing problems as potential longitudinal pathways through which child maltreatment influences adolescent substance use. Structural equation modeling was conducted on 883 adolescents drawn from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). The pathways of PTS symptoms linked physical and sexual abuse to substance use, and the pathways of mother-child relationships linked emotional abuse and neglect to substance use. None of the four types of maltreatment affected substance use via internalizing or externalizing problems. The findings suggest that intervention efforts aimed at addressing posttraumatic stress symptoms and improving mother-child relationship quality may be beneficial in reducing substance use among adolescents with child maltreatment histories.

Gender‐Moderated Pathways From Childhood Abuse and Neglect to Late‐Adolescent Substance Use

“…Neglected youths may be vulnerable to substance use because of trauma or other pathways, such as the lack of sufficient parental supervision. Findings support the notion that both child abuse and neglect are detrimental to adolescent development but may have different specific effects (Trickett & McBride‐Chang, ; Yoon et al., ). Further, findings indicate gender differences in the paths from abuse to substance use.…”

“…In particular, child abuse (violence that occurs in discrete events) and child neglect (acts of omission that are typically nonviolent and not occurring in discrete events) have potentially meaningful differences in their relations to the definition of trauma (an event that threatens injury, death, or physical harm while causing shock, terror, or helplessness; American Psychiatric Association [APA], ) and may vary in their effects (Trickett & McBride‐Chang, ). Empirical research that has examined multiple maltreatment types simultaneously and separately suggests unique pathways from abuse and neglect to substance use, warranting further investigation of the roles of abuse versus neglect (Yoon, Kobulsky, Yoon, & Kim, ).…”

Child maltreatment types and adolescent substance use: The role of deviant peer affiliation

“…Additionally, for measuring maltreatment, Snyder and Smith () used caseworker reports, which only capture severe experiences, whereas this study used self‐reported child maltreatment. Although this study's findings contrast with these previous cross‐sectional studies, they are aligned with the findings of more recent longitudinal studies (Yoon et al, ). Child maltreatment at age 12 was not directly associated with adolescent substance use at age 16, suggesting that adolescent substance use at age 16 may not be directly affected by the history of childhood maltreatment experiences.…”

“…Using data from the LONGSCAN dataset, this study makes significant contributions that fill key gaps in the literature. cross-sectional studies, they are aligned with the findings of more recent longitudinal studies (Yoon et al, 2017). Child maltreatment at age 12 was not directly associated with adolescent substance use at age 16, suggesting that adolescent substance use at age 16 may not be directly affected by the history of childhood maltreatment experiences.…”

“…Based on the well-established connection between child maltreatment and adolescent substance use, several studies have investigated the underlying mechanisms that link child maltreatment and adolescent substance use. The underlying mechanisms examined in these studies include internalizing behaviour problems (Duprey, Oshri, & Caughy, 2017;Oshri et al, 2017), externalizing behaviour problems (Yoon, Kobulsky, Yoon, & Kim, 2017;Handley, Rogosch, & Cicchetti, 2015), and attachment (Oshri, Sutton, Clay-Warner, & Miller, 2015). Although such studies have provided valuable information about distinct mechanisms that underlie the connection between child maltreatment and adolescent substance use, they have been limited in that they primarily focused on individual-or family-level mediators and did not consider peer-or school-level mediators.…”