TY - JOUR
T1 - Association of Specific Traumatic Experiences With Alcohol Initiation and Transitions to Problem Use in European American and African American Women
AU - Werner, Kimberly B.
AU - Sartor, Carolyn E.
AU - McCutcheon, Vivia V.
AU - Grant, Julia D.
AU - Nelson, Elliot C.
AU - Heath, Andrew C.
AU - Bucholz, Kathleen K.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2016 by the Research Society on Alcoholism
PY - 2016/11/1
Y1 - 2016/11/1
N2 - Background: The aims of this study were to (i) characterize racial differences in alcohol involvement and (ii) examine the risk conferred by specific trauma exposures and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for different stages of alcohol involvement in European American (EA) and African American (AA) women. Methods: Data are from the Missouri Adolescent Female Twins Study (N = 3,787, 14.6% AA; mean age at most recent interview = 24.5 [SD 2.8]). Trauma exposures (e.g., sexual abuse [SA], physical abuse [PA], witnessing another person being killed or injured, experiencing an accident, and experiencing a disaster) were modeled as time-varying predictors of alcohol initiation, transition to first alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptom, and transition to AUD diagnosis using Cox proportional hazards regression while taking into account other substance involvement, parental characteristics, and commonly co-occurring psychiatric disorders. Results: In EA women only, SA was associated with alcohol initiation prior to the age of 14, PA predicted transition from initiation to first AUD symptom, and PA, witnessing injury or death, and SA predicted transition to AUD diagnosis. No association was discovered between trauma exposures or PTSD for any stage of alcohol involvement in AA women. Conclusions: Results reveal trauma experiences as important contributors to all stages of alcohol involvement in EA women only, with different trauma types conferring risk for each stage of alcohol involvement. PTSD was not revealed as a significant predictor of AUD in EA or AA women, suggesting trauma, independent of PTSD, directly contributes to alcohol involvement. Findings highlight the importance of considering racial differences when developing etiologic models of the association of traumatic experiences with alcohol involvement.
AB - Background: The aims of this study were to (i) characterize racial differences in alcohol involvement and (ii) examine the risk conferred by specific trauma exposures and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for different stages of alcohol involvement in European American (EA) and African American (AA) women. Methods: Data are from the Missouri Adolescent Female Twins Study (N = 3,787, 14.6% AA; mean age at most recent interview = 24.5 [SD 2.8]). Trauma exposures (e.g., sexual abuse [SA], physical abuse [PA], witnessing another person being killed or injured, experiencing an accident, and experiencing a disaster) were modeled as time-varying predictors of alcohol initiation, transition to first alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptom, and transition to AUD diagnosis using Cox proportional hazards regression while taking into account other substance involvement, parental characteristics, and commonly co-occurring psychiatric disorders. Results: In EA women only, SA was associated with alcohol initiation prior to the age of 14, PA predicted transition from initiation to first AUD symptom, and PA, witnessing injury or death, and SA predicted transition to AUD diagnosis. No association was discovered between trauma exposures or PTSD for any stage of alcohol involvement in AA women. Conclusions: Results reveal trauma experiences as important contributors to all stages of alcohol involvement in EA women only, with different trauma types conferring risk for each stage of alcohol involvement. PTSD was not revealed as a significant predictor of AUD in EA or AA women, suggesting trauma, independent of PTSD, directly contributes to alcohol involvement. Findings highlight the importance of considering racial differences when developing etiologic models of the association of traumatic experiences with alcohol involvement.
KW - Alcohol
KW - Alcohol Use Disorder
KW - Racial Differences
KW - Traumatic Stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84991791015&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/acer.13220
DO - 10.1111/acer.13220
M3 - Article
C2 - 27656844
AN - SCOPUS:84991791015
SN - 0145-6008
VL - 40
SP - 2401
EP - 2408
JO - Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
JF - Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
IS - 11
ER -