Abstract
Early life stress (ELS) leads to increased susceptibility to serious psychiatric problems such as alcohol dependence, but the mechanisms through which ELS affects alcohol dependence are unclear. We investigated the mediating role of multi-dimensional impulsivity in the associations between ELS and alcohol dependence. 330 male patients with alcohol dependence (mean age = 48.39) completed self-rating scales of ELS and several self-report measures of impulsivity as well as balloon analogue risk task (BART). After classifying different dimensions of impulsivity using factor analysis, structural equation modeling was conducted to test the mediation effects of impulsivity between ELS and alcohol dependence severity and social onset of hazardous drinking. Among the participants, 64.8%, 42.1% and 47.9% reported at least one episode of childhood maltreatment, sexual abuse and parental conflict, respectively. Response impulsivity-sensation seeking, reflection impulsivity and aggression partially mediated the association between ELS and severity of alcohol dependence (CFI = 0.902 and RMSEA = 0.079). Reflection impulsivity dimension partially mediated the association between ELS and social onset of hazardous drinking (CFI = 0.939, RMSEA = 0.091). These finding imply that stabilizing vulnerabilities such as reflection impulsivity via intervention programs that target young individuals with ELS may be helpful in delaying the onset of hazardous drinking and prevent alcohol dependence.
Highlights
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is an important mental, physical and public problem with high social and economic burden[1,2]
The present study investigated the mediating role of multi-dimensional impulsivity in the associations between Early life stress (ELS) and alcohol dependence severity and between ELS and social onset of problematic alcohol use in patients diagnosed with alcohol dependence using structural equation modeling
Response impulsivity-sensation seeking, reflection impulsivity and aggression partially mediated the association between ELS and alcohol dependence severity, while only reflection impulsivity partially mediated the association between ELS and social onset of hazardous drinking
Summary
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is an important mental, physical and public problem with high social and economic burden[1,2]. Alcohol-related family disruption, violence and criminal behaviors lead to serious public health problems[5,6] Given these high burdens associated with excessive alcohol consumption, it is very important to understand the risk factors and their nature associated with alcohol use disorder and to develop intervention strategies for prevention of problematic alcohol use. A study of 3,592 US adults showed those with a history of four or more types of ELS had an increased risk of 3.6 times the odds for initiating drinking at the age of or younger and 1.8 times at the ages from to 17, compared to those without any experience of ELS, when adjusted for multiple variables including family feelings about alcohol and number of friends drinking first year of high school[10] These findings suggest that ELS is a significant risk factor for development and prognosis of problematic alcohol drinking. We focused on the mediating role of multi-dimensional impulsivity in the associations between ELS and alcohol dependence severity and between ELS and onset of hazardous drinking, using structural equation modeling
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