Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to risky health behaviors (e.g., alcohol, substance use), chronic health conditions (e.g., diabetes, cancer), higher medical costs, and early death. Children exposed to trauma are seven times more likely to develop a substance use disorder in adolescence or adulthood compared to those who were not exposed. However, not all children who experience ACEs will grow up to have detrimental outcomes. One aspect of parenting that may be particularly relevant for promoting risk or resilience in the context of adversity is parental emotion socialization (ES). Despite the established link between ACEs and substance use, no research, to date, has examined whether ES serves as a risk or protective factor in the context of ACEs and subsequent substance use. As such, the present study aims to fill this gap by examining ES as a moderator of the relationship between ACEs and substance use. Participants (N=550, age M=20.4, SD=4.7) were recruited from SONA systems: a university operated online platform where students may choose to voluntarily participate in a variety of self-report research studies in exchange for course credit or extra credit. The present project comes from a larger study called the Religion, Emotions and Current Health (REACH) study. Retrospective measures regarding the participants' adverse childhood experiences and their parent’s emotion socialization behavior include The Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey (ACEs) and The Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES). Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) was used to assess for current substance use. All analyses will be conducted using the R package for statistical computing. Bivariate correlations will be examined for all variables using Pearson’s correlation coefficient method. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis will be implemented to determine if parental emotion socialization moderates the relationship between childhood adversity and substance use. The estimated multiple regression formula, ( Y) ̂= i + b1X + b2M + b3XM + ey; where Y ̂ = outcome (i.e., current substance use), X = the predictor variable (i.e., ACEs), M = primary moderator variable (i.e., parental emotion socialization from childhood), and b3XM= interaction will be applied with R’s base lm(Y~X*Z) function. The proposed study will test two main hypotheses: 1) ACEs from childhood will act as a predictor for current substance use in adulthood (as reflected in the literature) 2) ES will act as a moderator on the relationship between ACEs and substance use; however, the nature of this interaction will vary depending on the type of ES behaviors. Specifically, the link between ACEs in childhood and substance use in early adulthood will be exacerbated by a childhood marked by high levels of non-supportive ES; whereas, the link between ACEs in childhood and substance use in early adulthood will be lessened (buffered) by a childhood marked by high levels of supportive ES.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:asrf-1309 |
| Date | 12 April 2019 |
| Creators | Najm, Julia, Morelen, Diana |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Appalachian Student Research Forum |
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