Abstract
Childhood trauma is related to substance use disorder; however, few studies have examined the relationship between childhood trauma and the age at which the drug was first used. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between childhood trauma and the age of first-time drug use among methamphetamine-dependent patients. Moreover, we analyzed the characteristics of adverse family environment associated with severe childhood trauma and the risk factors for starting drugs in minors. A baseline interview was conducted with 110 participants who were in detoxification, including demographic information, past substance use, and age of first-time drug use. The participants' childhood trauma experience before 18 years of age was evaluated using the simplified version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF). The Chinese version of the Family Environment Scale (FES-CV) was used to assess the family environment of methamphetamine-dependent patients. Among 110 non-injecting methamphetamine-dependent patients, nearly half (n = 48, 43.6%) had moderate and severe childhood trauma. Correlation analysis showed that the age of first-time drug use negatively correlated with emotional abuse (r = −0.32, p < 0.01) and physical abuse (r = −0.27, p < 0.01). The age of first-time drug use negatively correlated with conflict (r = −0.20, p < 0.05) and independence (r = −0.22, p < 0.05) of family environment, but positively correlated with intellectual-cultural orientation (r = 0.28, p < 0.01). Additionally, childhood trauma factors significantly correlated with many indexes of family environment, especially cohesion (r = −0.45, p < 0.01), conflict (r = 0.49, p < 0.01), and independence (r = 0.33, p < 0.01). Additionally, the regression model showed that when emotional abuse increased by one point, the age of first-time drug use was 0.69 years earlier. These findings suggest that a detrimental family environment can aggravate childhood trauma, and the experience of childhood emotional or physical abuse may be an effective predictor of early drug use among methamphetamine-dependent patients.
Highlights
According to the 2020 World Drug Report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, approximately 35.6 million people suffer from substance-related disorders globally
Based on a further analysis of the age of first-time drug use, we found that under age methamphetamine-dependent patients had a higher level of childhood trauma than those who started using methamphetamine in adulthood
It was found that the age of first-time drug use of methamphetamine-dependent patients experiencing severe childhood trauma, especially emotional abuse or physical abuse, will be earlier, with more childhood trauma subtypes
Summary
According to the 2020 World Drug Report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, approximately 35.6 million people suffer from substance-related disorders globally. The use of amphetamines, especially methamphetamine, is increasing in parts of Asia and North America, with adolescents and young adults accounting for the largest share of users [1]. According to the Drug Situation Report released by the Chinese government in 2019, methamphetamine drug has the largest number of abusers in China, with 1.186 million abusing methamphetamine, accounting for 55.2% of the 2.148 million existing drug users [2]. It must be noted that the social, economic, and public health burden associated with substancerelated disorders, especially methamphetamine dependence, is enormous [5, 6]. As there are no approved drugs for methamphetamine-dependent disorders currently, psychotherapy and symptomatic treatment are the main approaches [12]
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