Physical and Sexual Abuse Issues among Youths with Substance Use Problems

Abstract

S ub stance use prob lems (SUP), when com bined with other psy chi at ric dis or ders, are of ten com plex and dif fi cult to treat. These prob lem com bi na tions are the rule rather than the ex cep tion with substance-using youths. One area that has not been ade quately ex plored is that of youths with SUP who have had pre vi ous physi cal and sex ual abuse.Physi cal and sex ual abuse are ma jor pub lic health is sues. Inci dence rates re ported in the lit era ture vary (1,2). In Ca na dian high school youths, the preva lence of re ported physi cal abuse is 15% among males and 25% among fe males. The prevalence of sex ual abuse is 5% for males and 25% for fe males (2).The se quelae of physi cal and sex ual abuse can have longlasting nega tive con se quences for the vic tim. Both abuse types have been as so ci ated with a myr iad of prob lems, includ ing anxi ety, ag gres sive be hav iour, anger-management prob lems, in ter per sonal dif fi cul ties, post trau matic stress disor ders, de pres sion, sui ci dal be hav iour, attention-deficit hyper ac tiv ity dis or der, con duct dis or der, and the vul ner abil ity for de vel op ing other psy chi at ric dis or ders (3-8). Short-and long-term ef fects of abuse are re lated to many vari ables, among which sex is im por tant (9,10).. Al though it has been found that in di vidu als who re port physical and sex ual abuse have an in creased in ci dence of SUP in later life (3,7), there are few re li able data for spe cific prevalence rates. Im por tant clini cal im pli ca tions of comor bid sequelae of abuse and SUP-such as drug-pattern use, clini cal course, prog no sis, and treat ment re sponse-have not been stud ied in ado les cents and young adults. This proj ect fo cuses on these is sues. Re view ing ini tial as sess ment in take data of youths with SUP can pro vide a greater un der stand ing of the

A Vulnerable Population in a Time of Crisis: Drug Users and the Attacks on the World Trade Center

“…[18][19][20][21] They are also more likely to have experienced trauma in their lives, including physical or sexual abuse, often occurring in childhood and/or adolescence. [22][23][24][25] Their ability to cope with a tragedy of such enormous scope may be compromised by these factors, leading to behaviors that further increase their vulnerability.…”

Voices of Healing and Recovery from Childhood Sexual Abuse

“…Child sexual abuse (CSA) is an unfortunately ubiquitous phenomenon linked with moderate to severe psychological consequences including mental disorders, behavioral disorders, and substance abuse (Balloon, Courbasson, & Smith, 2001;Briere & Elliot, 2003;Collishaw et al, 2007;Hetzel-Riggin, Brausch, Montgomery, 2007;Hyman & Williams, 2001;Saathoff-Wells, Culp, & Yancey, 2005). Globally, approximately 18% of women have experienced CSA (Stoltenborgh, van IJzendoorn, Euser, & Bakersmans-Kranenburg, 2011).…”

Predictive Psychological Factors of Problematic Alcohol use in University Students

“…Prevalence of childhood neglect and abuse was high among people who use substance [14]. Ballon, Courbasson and Smith [42] stated that one-half of the female youth substance abusers reported having been sexually abused (50.0%) and one-half of the female youths had a history of physical abuse (50.5%). Of those who exposed a history of abuse, more females (64.7%) than males (37.9%) reported using substances to cope with the trauma.…”