Novel Associations Among Trauma, Mindfulness, and Impaired Control Over Alcohol Use
- PMID: 36382141
- PMCID: PMC9648857
- DOI: 10.1007/s12671-019-01285-6
Novel Associations Among Trauma, Mindfulness, and Impaired Control Over Alcohol Use
Abstract
Objective: Two thirds of adults experience at least one lifetime traumatic incident. Specifically, childhood traumas (physical neglect, emotional neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse) are associated with increased alcohol use. According to the self-medication hypothesis, alcohol is used to alleviate upsetting thoughts and memories. This may lead to greater impaired control over alcohol use (i.e., a breakdown of an intention to limit drinking). Utilizing mindfulness reduces maladaptive responses to trauma. Trauma and difficulties maintaining control (generally) have been examined with mindfulness as a mediator; however, control over alcohol use specifically, has not.
Methods: We analyzed data from a cross-sectional, student survey (N = 847, 49% female) utilizing path modeling. We examined mindfulness and impaired control over alcohol use as potential mediators between trauma and alcohol outcomes (i.e., drinks per drinking day [DPDD] and alcohol-related problems).
Results: Emotional neglect (EN) was the strongest predictor among five facets of trauma. Higher EN related to lower mindfulness (β = - 0.22; SE = 0.05; p ≤ 0.001) and greater impaired control over alcohol (β = 0.11; SE = 0.06; p = 0.05). Finally, EN was related to higher DPDD, mediated by mindfulness and impaired control over alcohol use (standardized indirect effect = 0.006; 95% CI, 0.002, 0.012).
Conclusion: These findings suggest potential mediating pathways from childhood trauma to alcohol-related outcomes via mindfulness and greater impaired control over alcohol use. Current research informs efforts to promote mindfulness interventions to reduce alcohol use and related problems among college students, especially those who have experienced childhood traumas and may experience elevated impaired control over alcohol use.
Keywords: Alcohol use; Childhood trauma; Drinking consequences; Heavy drinking; Impaired control over drinking; Risk factors.
Conflict of interest statement
Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Figures
![Fig. 1](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/9648857/bin/nihms-1820389-f0001.gif)
Similar articles
-
Do Coping Motives and Perceived Impaired Control Mediate the Indirect Links from Childhood Trauma Facets to Alcohol-Related Problems?Behav Sci (Basel). 2023 Feb 23;13(3):197. doi: 10.3390/bs13030197. Behav Sci (Basel). 2023. PMID: 36975222 Free PMC article.
-
Does insomnia mediate the link between childhood trauma and impaired control over drinking, alcohol use, and related problems?Addict Behav Rep. 2021 Dec 21;15:100402. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2021.100402. eCollection 2022 Jun. Addict Behav Rep. 2021. PMID: 35036516 Free PMC article.
-
Dimensions of childhood trauma and their direct and indirect links to PTSD, impaired control over drinking, and alcohol-related-problems.Addict Behav Rep. 2020 Sep 23;12:100304. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100304. eCollection 2020 Dec. Addict Behav Rep. 2020. PMID: 33364313 Free PMC article.
-
Mindfulness as a mediator of the association between adverse childhood experiences and alcohol use and consequences.Addict Behav. 2018 Sep;84:92-98. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.04.002. Epub 2018 Apr 4. Addict Behav. 2018. PMID: 29653433
-
Trait mindfulness and protective strategies for alcohol use: Implications for college student drinking.Addict Behav. 2017 Oct;73:16-21. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.04.011. Epub 2017 Apr 8. Addict Behav. 2017. PMID: 28441572
Cited by
-
Do Coping Motives and Perceived Impaired Control Mediate the Indirect Links from Childhood Trauma Facets to Alcohol-Related Problems?Behav Sci (Basel). 2023 Feb 23;13(3):197. doi: 10.3390/bs13030197. Behav Sci (Basel). 2023. PMID: 36975222 Free PMC article.
-
Childhood neglect is associated with low affect and high stress in habitual alcohol drinkers.Int J Alcohol Drug Res. 2022;10(1):3-14. doi: 10.7895/ijadr.399. Epub 2022 Dec 29. Int J Alcohol Drug Res. 2022. PMID: 36875154 Free PMC article.
-
Does Relationship-Contingent Self-Esteem Play a Role in the Stress to Impaired Control Pathway to Alcohol-Related Problems in a College Student Sample?Behav Sci (Basel). 2023 Feb 17;13(2):185. doi: 10.3390/bs13020185. Behav Sci (Basel). 2023. PMID: 36829414 Free PMC article.
-
Does insomnia mediate the link between childhood trauma and impaired control over drinking, alcohol use, and related problems?Addict Behav Rep. 2021 Dec 21;15:100402. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2021.100402. eCollection 2022 Jun. Addict Behav Rep. 2021. PMID: 35036516 Free PMC article.
-
Dimensions of childhood trauma and their direct and indirect links to PTSD, impaired control over drinking, and alcohol-related-problems.Addict Behav Rep. 2020 Sep 23;12:100304. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100304. eCollection 2020 Dec. Addict Behav Rep. 2020. PMID: 33364313 Free PMC article.
References
-
- American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders DSM-5® (5th ed.). Arlington: American Psychiatric Pub.
-
- Arnekrans AK, Calmes SA, Laux JM, Roseman CP, Piazza NJ, Reynolds JL, et al. (2018). College students’ experiences of childhood developmental traumatic stress: resilience, first-year academic performance, and substance use. Journal of College Counseling, 21(1), 2–14. 10.1002/jocc.12083. - DOI
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Research Materials