The Relationship Between Self-Reported Childhood Maltreatment and Mental Health in Substance Use Disorders: A 6-Year Retrospective Analysis

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flowchart of participants in the Stayer study and the trauma substudy.

Table 1. Baseline Characteristics of Included Participants

Variable	Specifier	Total (N = 111)
Gender	Male	69 (62.2%)
	Female	42 (37.8%)
Age at baseline, years		27.1 (7.1)
Debut age substance use, years		13.1 (2.3)
Education level (completed)	Lower secondary school	65 (58.6%)
	Upper secondary school	31 (27.9%)
	Tertiary vocational education	14 (12.6%)
	Bachelor’s degree or higher	1 (0.9%)
Born in Norway		104 (93.7%)
Preferred drug^a	Alcohol	5 (5%)
	Cannabis	21 (21.0%)
	Stimulants	19 (19.0%)
	Opioids	7 (7.0%)
	Benzodiazepines/sedatives	2 (2.0%)
	Multiple	24 (24.0%)
	Unknown	22 (22%)
History of intravenous drug use	No	47 (42.3%)
	Yes	64 (57.7%)
SCL-90-R GSI raw score at baseline		1.2 (0.7)
SWLS score at baseline		15.9 (6.2)

Note: Data are presented as mean (SD) for continuous measures, and No. (%) for categorical measures.

^aAll patients in this cohort used multiple substances, and this item refers to drug preference and not typical drug use.

SCL-90-R GSI = Symptoms Checklist 90 Revised–Global Severity Index; SWLS = Satisfaction With Life Scale.

Figure 2. Box plot of CTQ-SF sum scores (panel A) and number of trauma types (panel B) for participants by group.

CM = childhood maltreatment; CTQ-SF = Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Short Form.

Table 2. Distribution of CTQ-SF Scores and Frequency of Scores Above Cutoff

Variable	All participants (N = 111)
	Mean (SD)	Over cutoff, No. (%)
CTQ-SF total	51.0 (18.7)	–
Frequency of CM^a	1 (5)	98 (92.5)
Emotional abuse	11.8 (6.2)	45 (40.9)
Physical abuse	8.1 (5.1)	26 (23.6)
Sexual abuse	8.1 (5.9)	64 (58.2)
Emotional neglect	12.4 (5.4)	40 (37.0)
Physical neglect	9.7 (4.9)	31 (28.7)
Minimizing/denial^a	0 (3)	31 (28.4)

^aThis variable is expressed with median (range), and a cutoff of ≥1 is used in order to provide count data.

CM = childhood maltreatment; CTQ-SF = Childhood Trauma Questionnaire–Short Form.

Table 3. Demographic and CTQ-SF Scores and Frequency of Scores Above Cutoff, by Group

Variable	Low-trauma group (n = 66)	High-trauma group (n = 40)	p value
CTQ-SF total	38.9 (7.5)	70.9 (14.0)	<.001
Frequency of CM	1.0 (3)	3.4 (3)	<.001
Score
Emotional abuse	7.7 (3.1)	18.7 (3.8)	<.001
Physical abuse	5.7 (1.7)	12.2 (6.4)	<.001
Sexual abuse	9.1 (3.3)	11.0 (6.8)	.427
Emotional neglect	9.4 (3.8)	17.4 (3.7)	<.001
Physical neglect	7.0 (2.2)	11.6 (4.2)	<.001
Minimizing/denial	0.7 (1.0)	0.1 (0.3)	.002
Over cutoff
Emotional abuse	8 (12.1)	37 (92.5)	<.001
Physical abuse	1 (1.5)	25 (62.5)	<.001
Sexual abuse	45 (68.2)	18 (45.0)	.031
Emotional neglect	7 (10.6)	33 (82.5)	<.001
Physical neglect	7 (10.6)	24 (60.0)	<.001
Minimizing/denial^a	26 (39.4)	5 (12.5)	.006
Demographics
Age, years	27.0 (7.3)	27.2 (6.8)	.774
Male gender	45 (68.2)	20 (50.0)	.097
Baseline SWLS score	17.1 (6.3)	14.6 (6.0)	.026
Baseline SCL-90-R GSI raw score	1.1 (0.6)	1.3 (0.7)	.070
Intravenous substance use N (%)	36 (54.5)	24 (60.0)	.729
Debut age, years	13.1 (2.3)	12.9 (2.5)	.509

All continuous variables are presented as mean (SD) and all categorical as No. (%). Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare continuous variables. To compare categorical variables, Chi-square test or Fisher test was used, as appropriate. Significant p values appear in bold.

^aA cutoff of ≥1 is used for minimization/denial score.

CM = childhood maltreatment; CTQ-SF = Childhood Trauma Questionnaire–Short Form.

Figure 3. Predicted marginal means for DUDIT-C, AUDIT-C, SWLS, and SCL-90-R GSI raw scores, by group.

DUDIT-C = Drug Use Disorders Identification Test, consumption items; AUDIT-C = Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, consumption items; SWLS = Satisfaction With Life Scale; GSI = Symptoms Checklist 90 Revised–Global Severity Index.

Note. For the substance scores, only the conditional parts of the models are presented.

Table 4. Estimates of Mixed Models with Trauma Subscales Serving as Predictors and DUDIT-C Score as the Outcome Variable

	Conditional part^a			Zero-inflated part^a
CTQ subscale	Incidence rate ratio	95% CI	p value	Odds ratio	95% CI	p value
Emotional abuse	1.00	0.99–1.02	.718	1.01	0.98–1.04	.432
Physical abuse	1.01	0.99–1.03	.398	1.00	0.97–1.04	.794
Sexual abuse	1.02	1.00–1.04	.018	0.97	0.94–1.01	.106
Emotional neglect	0.99	0.97–1.01	.262	1.02	0.98–1.05	.332
Physical neglect	1.00	0.97–1.02	.750	0.98	0.94–1.02	.385
Minimization/denial	1.00	0.89–1.12	.991	0.82	0.69–0.99	.042

^aConditional part predicts the ratio of change in the DUDIT-C score for each unit of the subscale score. Odds ratio in the zero-inflated part measures the change in odds of staying in a sober state with a 1-unit increase of the corresponding subscale score. Significant p values appear in bold.

CI = confidence interval; CTQ = Childhood Trauma Questionnaire; DUDIT-C = Drug Use Disorders Identification Test, consumption items.

Data availability statement

Anonymized data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors upon reasonable request.