The Association Between Cumulative Childhood Trauma and Alcohol Use Disorder with First Symptom in Childhood or Adulthood

Abstract

The broad aim of this study was to investigate the association between reported childhood trauma and lifetime alcohol use disorder with first symptom in childhood or adulthood. This study used data collected as part of the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing which involved a face to face interview of 8841 Australian community residents (60% response rate) aged between 16 and 85 years (ABS, 2008). The survey was conducted using the World Mental Health Survey Initiative version of the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (Slade, Johnston, Oakley Browne, Andrews, & Whiteford, 2009). Childhood trauma was assessed by asking participants if they had experienced each of 29 types of traumatic events and their age at first experience. From this a cumulative measure of childhood trauma was calculated by summing the number of traumatic event types each participant reported they experienced up to and including age 17. Control variables included age, gender, co-morbid mental health conditions, and accumulated exposure to traumatic event types in adulthood. A multinomial logistic regression investigated the unique contribution of reported cumulative childhood trauma on the likelihood of lifetime alcohol use disorder with first symptom in childhood, lifetime alcohol use disorder with first symptom in adulthood, and no diagnosis of alcohol use disorder. The results showed cumulative childhood trauma uniquely contributed to the likelihood of alcohol use disorder with first symptom in childhood with the rate of alcohol use disorder increasing by 28.3% per trauma type. Reported cumulative childhood trauma also contributed to the likelihood of alcohol use disorder with first symptom in adulthood with the rate of alcohol use disorder increasing by 10.1% per childhood trauma type. The limitations of the study and implications of the results are discussed.