Research

UQ researchers connect childhood maltreatment and substance abuse in later life

Freya Lucas

Apr 22, 2024

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People who were maltreated as children are three times more likely to be admitted to hospital for alcohol and substance use by the time they’re 40 years of age, compared to people who were not maltreated, researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) have shown.

The study was led by Dr Claudia Bull, and analysed data from more than 6,000 children born in Brisbane’s Mater Mothers Hospital between 1981 and 1983.

“This longitudinal birth cohort study gathered and analysed the group’s data at different stages of their lives, from 6-months-old to 40 years,” Dr Bull said.

“In 2000, we combined this information with additional data from the Queensland Department of Families, Youth and Community Care and found around 600 of the children (from the cohort) were identified as (having been) maltreated.”

Maltreatment, for the purposes of the study, was defined as physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse or neglect up to the age of 15 years, as reported to the department.

“We found those children were 2.86 times more likely to be hospitalised for alcohol use disorder as adults compared to children who weren’t maltreated, and 3.34 times more likely to be admitted for a substance use disorder,” Dr Bull said.

Previous research into childhood adversity and alcohol and substance use disorders had focused mainly on physical and sexual abuse, however for this research the outcome was to learn more about whether emotional abuse and neglect were as strongly associated with subsequent alcohol and substance use disorders, ultimately finding that they were.

The odds of hospital admission for alcohol and substance use disorders are comparable across all subtypes of abuse and neglect in childhood, fellow researcher Professor Steve Kisley said.

“It means no matter what kind of abuse children face – physical, sexual or emotional – they are roughly 3 times as likely to suffer from alcohol and substance use disorders later in life,” he explained.

“This shows that by addressing the root causes and consequences of child maltreatment, we have the opportunity to prevent many people suffering from alcohol and substance use disorders in later life.”

The research paper was published in Addiction.

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