Citation

Bender AK, Bucholz KK, Edenberg HJ, Kramer JR, Anokhin AP, Meyers JL, Kuperman S, Hesselbrock V, Hesselbrock M, McCutcheon VV. J. Fam. Trauma Child Cust. Child Dev. 2020; 17(2): 116-134.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/26904586.2020.1751016

PMID

38827930

PMCID

PMC11142461

Abstract

This study presents findings regarding the prevalence of trauma exposure and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) based on discrete types of trauma (physical, sexual, witnessed violence, and non-assaultive trauma) among 3404 youth in a family study of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Data from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) were used to examine associations of parent AUD with offspring's childhood trauma exposure, and with lifetime diagnosis of DSM-IV PTSD among White and Black participants aged 12-35. Of 3404 youth, 59.7% had parents affected by AUD and 78% experienced ≤1 traumatic events before age 18. AUD in one or both parents was associated with physical, sexual, and witnessed violence among Whites. Among African Americans, maternal AUD was associated with sexual assault. The lifetime PTSD rate among youth exposed to childhood trauma was 8.6%, and mother-only AUD was significantly associated with lifetime PTSD among participants in both groups. PTSD among youth in this study were somewhat higher (7.9% to 8.83%) than those found in general population studies of the same demographic (5% to 6.8%). Maternal AUD appears to be a salient risk factor for sexual assault before age 18 among Black and development of lifetime PTSD among White youth.

Language: en

Keywords

childhood trauma; posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); alcohol use disorder (AUD); COGA; parental alcohol abuse