Sunny Shin, Ph.D., (pictured right) an associate professor in Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Social Work, has led a number of studies exploring the relationship between child maltreatment and adolescent substance abuse.
Shin, who joined VCU's faculty in 2013, recently discussed his research and explained what types of prevention and intervention efforts might help.
Q: What overarching conclusions have you drawn from your research into the ties between adverse childhood events and substance abuse?
A: First, we found that exposure to early severe stress including child maltreatment have long-lasting adverse effects on substance abuse. For example, our studies have found that compared to individuals who never experienced any maltreatment, people with a history of childhood maltreatment experienced a steeper increase in rates of binge drinking during adolescence and persistently higher binge drinking beyond adolescence and throughout much of young adulthood. Our research also indicated that victims of adverse childhood events may develop more problematic patterns of substance use than non-victims. Using a sample of adolescents who were selected from publicly funded service systems, we found that adolescent victims of childhood sexual abuse were about five times more likely to be heavy polysubstance users than were non-victims.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-05-ties-child-maltreatment-substance-abuse.html
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