Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adulthood drug abuse among university students from seven universities in five countries in Latin America and one country in the Caribbean. This multi-country study utilised a cross-sectional design to collect data on drug abuse, as well as retrospective data on maltreatment during childhood. The sample consisted of 2,283 university students, of which 82.6% reported childhood maltreatment experiences, and 33.5% increased levels of psychological distress. A significant relationship was observed between childhood maltreatment and drug abuse as an adult (p<0.05). Although the sampling technique does not permit generalisations to all university students, the current study identified exposure to childhood maltreatment as a potential precursor to adult drug abuse within the populations studied. Therefore, the effectiveness of drug demand reduction strategies at the respective universities may be enhanced by incorporating policies and interventions aimed at childhood maltreatment.
Highlights
The production and consumption of licit and illicit drugs are of significant concern in Latin American and Caribbean countries.[1]
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) questionnaire provides a measure of reported incidents of neglect, as well as sexual, verbal, and physical abuse, and has demonstrated adequate reliability and validity across international and cultural settings.[24]
The current study identified an association between childhood maltreatment, increased levels of psychological distress in adulthood, and a greater likelihood of being diagnosed with a psychological disorder
Summary
The production and consumption of licit and illicit drugs are of significant concern in Latin American and Caribbean countries.[1] As a response, a number of prevention, treatment, and enforcement strategies have been implemented to reduce the supply and demand within this region. These interventions included use prevention campaigns, strict legal sanctions for participation in illicit drug trade, special enforcement units to prosecute drug traffickers, establishing alternate means of income for drug farmers, and the national funding of rehabilitation centres. This area of study has been limited to developed nations and, cases in Latin America and the Caribbean remain overlooked.[3,4,5,6,7,8]
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