Substance Use and Mental Health Outcomes During Emerging Adulthood Among Individuals With Different Patterns of Child Maltreatment

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to identify patterns of child maltreatment experienced prior to age 18 and examine the relationship between those patterns and substance use and mental health disorders among emerging adults. Data were from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III. The analytic sample consisted of 5,194 adults between 18 and 25 years old. Latent class analysis revealed a three-class model: Rare Maltreatment (59%); Occasional Maltreatment, Rare Sexual Abuse (37%); and Frequent Maltreatment, Some Sexual Abuse (4%). Risk of substance use disorders and poor mental health was higher for the two classes who experienced maltreatment; however, those with Frequent Maltreatment had higher risk of poor mental health, but not substance use disorders compared to those with Occasional Maltreatment. Patterns of child maltreatment are important predictors of substance use and mental health disorders in emerging adulthood, but different patterns may necessitate specific intervention efforts.

Keywords

child maltreatment latent class analysis substance use mental health

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. Washington, DC: Author.

Anda

R. F.

Felitti

V. J.

Bremner

J. D.

Walker

J. D.

Whitfield

Perry

B. D.

… Giles

W. H.

(2006). The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood: A convergence of evidence from neurobiology and epidemiology. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 256, 174–186. doi:10.1007/s00406-005-0624-4

Arnett

J. J.

(2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469–480. doi:10.1037//0003-066X.55.5.469

Arnett

J. J.

(2005). The developmental context of substance use in emerging adulthood. Journal of Drug Issues, 35, 235–254. doi:10.1177/002204260503500202

Bakk

Vermunt

J. K.

(2016). Robustness of stepwise latent class modeling with continuous distal outcomes. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 23, 20–31. doi:10.1080/10705511.2014.955104

Bernstein

D. P.

Fink

Handelsman

Foote

Lovejoy

Wenzel

… Ruggiero

(1994). Initial reliability and validity of a new retrospetive measure of child abuse and neglect. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1132–1136. doi:10.1176/ajp.151.8.1132

Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2016). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. SMA 16-4984, NSDUH Series H-51). doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.10.042

Collins

L. M.

Lanza

S. T.

(2010). Latent class and latent transition analysis: With applications in the social, behavioral, and health sciences. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Cougle

J. R.

Timpano

K. R.

Sachs-Ericsson

Keough

M. E.

Riccardi

C. J.

(2010). Examining the unique relationships between anxiety disorders and childhood physical and sexual abuse in the National Comorbidity Survey-replication. Psychiatry Research, 177, 150–155. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2009.03.008

10.

Dong

Anda

R. F.

Dube

S. R.

Giles

W. H.

Felitti

V. J.

(2003). The relationship of exposure to childhood sexual abuse to other forms of abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction during childhood. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27, 625–639.

11.

Edwards

V. J.

Holden

G. W.

Felitti

V. J.

Anda

R. F.

(2003). Relationship between multiple forms of childhood maltreatment and adult mental health in community respondents: Results from the adverse childhood experiences study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1453–1460. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.160.8.1453

12.

Enoch

M. A.

(2011). The role of early life stress as a predictor for alcohol and drug dependence. Psychopharmacology, 214, 17–31. doi:10.1007/s00213-010-1916-6

13.

Felitti

V. J.

Anda

R. F.

Nordenberg

Williamson

D. F.

Spitz

A. M.

Edwards

… Marks

J. S.

(1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The adverse childhood experiences (ACE) study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14, 245–258. doi:10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8

14.

Grant

B. F.

Chu

Sigman

Amsbary

Kali

Sugawara

… Goldstein

(2014). Source and accuracy statement: National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (NESARC-III). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

15.

Hahm

H. C.

Lee

Ozonoff

Van Wert

M. J.

(2010). The impact of multiple types of child maltreatment on subsequent risk behaviors among women during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 528–540. doi:10.1007/s10964-009-9490-0

16.

Jonson-Reid

Kohl

P. L.

Drake

(2012). Child and adult outcomes of chronic child maltreatment. Pediatrics, 129, 839–845. doi:10.1542/peds.2011-2529

17.

Kim

Wildeman

Jonson-Reid

Drake

(2017). Lifetime prevalence of investigating child maltreatment among US children. American Journal of Public Health, 107, 274–280. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303545

18.

Lanza

S. T.

Rhoades

B. L.

(2013). Latent class analysis: An alternative perspective on subgroup analysis in prevention and treatment. Prevention Science, 14, 157–168. doi:10.1007/s11121-011-0201-1

19.

Masyn

K. E.

(2013). Latent class analysis and finite mixture modeling. In Little

T. D.

(Ed.), The Oxford handbook of quantitative methods (Vol. 2, pp. 551–611). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.au/books?id=FjNCnQEACAAJ

20.

Mersky

J. P.

Topitzes

(2010). Comparing early adult outcomes of maltreated and non-maltreated children: A prospective longitudinal investigation. Children and Youth Services Review, 32, 1086–1096. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2009.10.018

21.

Osher

D’Amora

D. A.

Plotkin

Jarrett

Eggleston

(2012). Adults with behavioral health needs under correctional supervision: A shared framework for reducing recidivism and promoting recovery. New York, NY: Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project. doi:10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004

22.

Springer

K. W.

Sheridan

Kuo

Carnes

(2007). Long-term physical and mental health consequences of childhood physical abuse: Results from a large population-based sample of men and women. Child Abuse and Neglect, 31, 517–530. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2007.01.003

23.

Straus

M. A.

Hamby

S. L.

Boney-McCoy

Sugarman

D. B.

(1996). The revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2): Development and preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283–316.

24.

Taxman

F. S.

Pattavina

(2013). Simulation strategies to reduce recidivism. New York, NY: Springer.

25.

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children Youth and Families, & Children’s Bureau. (2017). Child maltreatment 2015. Retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/research-data-technology/statistics-research/child-maltreatment

26.

Vachon

D. D.

Krueger

R. F.

Rogosch

F. A.

Cicchetti

(2015). Assessment of the harmful psychiatric and behavioral effects of different forms of child maltreatment. JAMA Psychiatry, E1–E9. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.1792