The Relationship Between Childhood and Adolescent Sexual Abuse and Substance Use

1
The Relationship Between Childhood and Adolescent
Sexual Abuse and Substance Use

• Michael Anne Greer
• Texas Wesleyan University

2
Introduction

• Substance abuse has been a recognized problem in
  society for quite some time.
• It is possible that treating addiction is so
  difficult because of other underlying issues. In
  particular, sexual abuse in childhood and
  adolescence is an issue that often leads to
  maladaptive ways of coping with pain.
• Finding a connection between these two issues
  would provide counselors with valuable
  information about traumatic events in a substance
  users life that should be explored.
• Although some research exists on the relationship
  between sexual abuse and substance misuse, it is
  an area that deserves more in-depth exploration.
  
• Additionally, most of the current research that
  exists fails to examine the history of childhood
  sexual abuse among males as thoroughly as it has
  been looked at among females.
• The current study attempts to examine this issue
  using a longitudinal study of males and females
  who report both sexual abuse in childhood or
  adolescence and report no sexual abuse in their
  lifetime.

3
Project Hypotheses

• This study attempts to demonstrate a relationship
  between experiencing sexual abuse before
  adulthood and substance abuse problems after the
  trauma.

4
Method

• Participants
• Two hundred participants volunteered for the
  study and were between 12 and 14 years of age at
  the start of the study.
• Fifty males and 50 females were recruited from
  various childhood sexual abuse counseling
  programs in Dallas, Houston, Austin and Fort
  Worth, Texas. Fifty males and 50 females with no
  history of childhood sexual abuse were also
  included in the study.
• 59 of the participants were white, 21 were
  African-American, 15 were Latino/a, and 5 were
  Asian-American.
• Participants were interviewed by the researcher
  and chosen for the study based on history of
  sexual abuse. Permission from a parent or legal
  guardian was required for all participants.
  Participants were paid for their participation in
  the study and treated in accordance with the
  Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of
  Conduct (American Psychological Association,
  1992).

5
Method, Cont.

• Materials
• The same structured initial interview was
  conducted by the researcher with all participants
  to determine sexual abuse history.
• The questionnaire given at specific intervals
  over the course of the study consisted of 25
  questions regarding use of drugs and/or alcohol
  and frequency of use. The questionnaire inquired
  about alcohol, marijuana, cocaine/crack,
  amphetamines, methamphetamine, opiates,
  hallucinogens, inhalants, ecstasy, GHB,
  painkillers, xanax, valium, ketamine, steroids
  and tobacco. 20 questions required a yes or
  no response and five questions were multiple
  choice, indicating frequency of use.
• Research Design
• Over the course of the longitudinal study,
  participants were given the same structured
  questionnaire about drug and alcohol use every
  sixth months.
• Data Collection Procedures
• The longitudinal study was conducted over a
  period of 10 years from 1993 to 2003.
  Participants reported to a designated counseling
  office in their city every six months to complete
  the questionnaire under the supervision of a
  researcher. After completing the final
  questionnaire, participants were debriefed with
  the researcher and offered counseling services if
  desired.

6
Proposed Analyses

• Data Scoring Procedures
• Data from all participants questionnaires were
  analyzed using SPSS.
• T-tests were used to determine relationships
  among childhood sexual abuse and later substance
  abuse.
• Statistics used to test hypotheses
• History of sexual abuse and types of substances
  were put into indices.
• T-tests as well as a series of logistic
  regressions were used to test whether there was
  an interaction between indices.

7
Discussion

• From this proposal, I have learned that designing
  a research study to thoroughly and accurately
  answer your research question can be very
  complicated.
• Getting the data that you need to answer what
  seems like a simple question can involve a very
  complex and/or costly research study.
• If I were actually able to conduct this study, I
  might shorten it from 10 years to 5 years and
  begin with children slightly older than 12-14.
• If possible, I would also try to use a sample
  from various states, rather than just Texas.