Abstract
Background: Early life stress is a significant public health problem associated with increased rates of psychiatric disorders, especially those related to drug abuse. Objective: To identify the prevalence of early life stress in drug users, to compare the intensity of trauma in alcohol and crack users, and to relate the power of injury to the severity of drug dependence. Method: Cross-sectional analytical study with a sample of 105 alcohol and crack users treated by an outpatient service. The instruments for data collection were sociodemographic data questionnaire, the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview, and the Severity of Dependence Scale. The categorical variables association was analyzed using the Chi-squared test, considering p < 0.05 significance. ANOVA was used to verify the variance. To assess the difference between sociographic and dependent variables, we used the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: High prevalence of early stress and severity of dependence were identified, with higher rates among crack users. The early stress revealed in the Alcohol group high rates of emotional (88.7%) and physical (94.3%) neglect and in the Crack group significant frequency of physical (61.5%) emotional abuse (51.9%), sexual (46.2%), and emotional (78.8%) and physical (90.4%) neglect. Crack users are 2.6 times more likely to have been emotionally abused, and 2.1 times more likely to have been sexually abused during childhood when compared to the alcohol group. Conclusion: Early stress was prevalent with significant intensity in drug users, and evaluation of this problem is essential for a better understanding of these disorders.
Highlights
The abusive use of psychoactive substances is considered a problematic factor of social order when observed self-destructive behaviors are harmful to the person and its social environment
Our study included a total of 120 subjects, divided into two groups: Alcohol and Crack groups (Figure 1)
The present study confirms the high prevalence of early life stress in drug users, especially among people diagnosed with crack dependence
Summary
The abusive use of psychoactive substances is considered a problematic factor of social order when observed self-destructive behaviors are harmful to the person and its social environment. Alcohol is the most widely used psychoactive substance in the national context, and the use of crack cocaine, a smoked form of cocaine, has become popular because of its affordability and low price The consumption of these substances, especially crack, has gained exponential importance in recent years due to the consequences of dependence on the individuals [2] [3]. In this context, due to the public health burden related to psychoactive substance abuse and the associated morbimortality consequences, studies are needed to identify the contributing factors for the development of psychoactive substance use disorders. Conclusion: Early stress was prevalent with significant intensity in drug users, and evaluation of this problem is essential for a better understanding of these disorders
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