The association between cannabis abuse and dependence and childhood physical and sexual abuse: evidence from an offspring of twins design

Abstract

Aims-This study examines the association between childhood physical abuse (CPA) and sexual abuse (CSA) and the development of cannabis abuse and dependence among adolescents and young adults while controlling for genetic and environmental risk factors.Design-To control for familial risk differences related to paternal drug dependence that might confound the relationship between CSA and CPA and cannabis abuse/dependence, we created four groups based on father's and uncle's substance use dependence (SUD) status reflecting different degrees of genetic and environmental risks to offspring: 1) high genetic, high environmental risk; 2) high genetic, low environmental risk, 3) medium genetic, low environmental risk; and 4) low genetic, low environmental risk. Participants-Adolescent and young adult offspring of monozygotic and dizygotic US military veteran twin fathers (n= 819).Measurements-Data on CPA and CSA, DSM-IV offspring cannabis abuse/dependence, other SUD and psychopathology, and maternal and paternal SUD and psychopathology were collected via semi-structured telephone interview.Findings-Twenty-three percent of the offspring sample met lifetime criteria for cannabis abuse/ dependence, 8.55% and 12.82% reported CSA and CPA, respectively. Offspring exposed to CSA, but not CPA, were at significantly greater risk of developing cannabis abuse/dependence compared to those who had not experienced CSA (HR=2.16; 95% CI=1.48-3.16) after controlling for genetic and familial environmental risk and offspring gender, alcohol abuse and dependence and conduct disorder.Conclusions-These results indicate that there are effects of CSA on development of cannabis abuse/dependence in addition to the genetic and familial environmental risk imparted by having a drug dependent father.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Alcohol Dependence in Young Women

“…Consistent with prior studies of trauma exposure and PTSD, elevated rates of parental problem drinking (Dube et al, 2001;Fergusson et al, 1996b;Sher et al, 1997), MDD (Breslau et al, 1997;Hapke et al, 2006;Kendler et al, 2000;McCutcheon et al, 2009), CD (Afi fi et al, 2009Fu et al, 2007;Kessler et al, 1995;Koenen et al, 2002), regular smoking (Al-Mamun et al, 2007;Breslau et al, 2003;Nelson et al, 2006), and cannabis abuse (Duncan et al, 2008;Kilpatrick et al, 2000;Nelson et al, 2006;Reed et al, 2007) were observed in women who had experienced traumatic events-both those who developed PTSD and those who did not-compared with women who did not report any trauma exposure. Much of the prior research in this area has involved comparing rates of co-occurring psychopathology and psychosocial risk factors in individuals with PTSD with those who do not meet diagnostic criteria, without regard to the trauma exposure status of individuals in the non-PTSD group or, conversely, comparing traumaexposed with non-trauma-exposed individuals, without regard to the PTSD status of individuals in the traumaexposed group.…”

“…Rates of MDD (Dinwiddie et al, 2000;Kendler et al, 2000;McCutcheon et al, 2009;Nelson et al, 2002), CD (Afi fi et al, 2009;Fergusson et al, 1996a;Molnar et al, 2001), cannabis and other illicit drug use disorders (Duncan et al, 2008;Kendler et al, 2000;Kilpatrick et al, 2000) and smoking (Al-Mamun et al, 2007;Anda et al, 1999;Nelson et al, 2006) are elevated in trauma-exposed populations. Thus, in examining the relationship between PTSD and alcohol-related outcomes, it is critical to adjust for the potential confounding effects of these commonly co-occurring conditions on the association of both PTSD and trauma exposure with AUDs.…”

Accounting for genetic and environmental confounds in associations between parent and child characteristics: A systematic review of children-of-twins studies.

“…Of the 7 articles not included in Table 3, 5 of them (Scherrer et al, 2012a; Scherrer et al, 2012b;Sartor et al 2008;Sartor et al 2010;) are concerned with predictors of smoking behaviors and, while the primary research question of each is distinct, they all include the same CoT data/analyses -that was first included in Volk et al (2007). Similarly 2 articles concerned with drug dependence (Scherrer et al, 2008a; 2008b) repeat analyses included in Duncan et al (2008). Results are arranged in alphabetical order of first author.…”

“…They were interested in the association between the experience of abuse during childhood and later cannabis abuse/dependence in the offspring of the VETR sample. By using information on the drug dependence history of the (twin) parents Duncan et al (2008) were able to control for the genetic susceptibility towards drug dependence and the environmental risks associated with having a drug dependent father. Results showed that childhood sexual abuse predicted cannabis abuse/dependence above and beyond the genetic and familial risks associated with having a drug dependent father.…”

“…The first example of this approach is a study conducted by Duncan et al (2008). They were interested in the association between the experience of abuse during childhood and later cannabis abuse/dependence in the offspring of the VETR sample.…”