Exploring the Relationship between Childhood Maltreatment and Problematic Alcohol Use: The Moderating Role of Parental Warmth

Background and Purpose: Maltreated children represent a subpopulation of US children particularly vulnerable to problematic alcohol use in young adulthood. Many studies have found that maltreated children are 2-6 times more likely to develop alcohol use in later life than are non-maltreated children. While a substantial body of literature has documented the negative effects of childhood maltreatment on later alcohol use, the moderating role of parental warmth on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and problematic alcohol use during young adulthood remains unclear. The present study aims to examine whether maternal and paternal warmth reduce the impact of childhood exposure to maltreatment on problematic alcohol use in young adulthood.

Methods: Data for the present study were collected from 339 young people in the community (mean age=21.9 years; SD = 2.1 years; range 18-25).  Participants were recruited through community advertisements targeting young adults, ages 18-25. Slightly more than half were female (51.9%); 57.5% were enrolled in college; and the majority of participants were White (64.6%). Childhood maltreatment was carefully evaluated using a computer-assisted self-interviewing (CASI) method of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire whereas parental warmth including maternal and paternal warmth was measured by a series of project-developed survey items. Furthermore, problematic alcohol use was assessed using the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI). Multiple linear regression models were used in an effort to examine the associations among four different types of maltreatment, parental warmth, and problematic alcohol use.

Results: In the study sample, 28% experienced childhood neglect; 25.7% emotional abuse; 19% physical abuse and 7.1% sexual abuse. Next, four types of maltreatment and dichotomized maternal and paternal care were added as main predictors along with interaction terms between maltreatment and maternal and paternal care, respectively. We found a significant moderating effect of paternal warmth on the associations between childhood emotional abuse and problematic alcohol use (β= -.29, p<.05). Specifically, the relationship between emotional abuse and problematic alcohol use was weaker among individuals with higher levels of paternal warmth. Moderating effects of maternal warmth on the maltreatment-problematic alcohol use links were not supported.

Discussion and Implications: Our study provides insight into the mechanisms by which childhood exposure to maltreatment influences alcohol use in young adulthood. Our findings suggest that parental warmth may not only lead to decreased levels of later alcohol use but may also modify the associations between childhood emotional abuse and problematic alcohol use during young adulthood.