An Examination of Trauma-mediated Pathways from Childhood Maltreatment to Alcohol and Marijuana Use and the Perpetration of Dating Violence in Adolescence

Despite high rates of alcohol and marijuana use and dating violence among individuals between the ages of 15 and 24, limited research has examined a link between substance use and dating violence within adolescent samples. Moreover, although both problem drinking and dating violence perpetration have been linked to a history of childhood maltreatment (CM), few studies have examined the potential mechanisms of a relationship between these variables. The current study tested the predictive role of CM in adolescent alcohol and cannabis use and dating violence perpetration in a sample of youth with CM histories; in particular, we were interested in predicting the temporal co-occurrence of these behaviours. It was hypothesized that trauma symptomatology would play a mediating role in this relationship. Results demonstrated that only witnessing emotional domestic violence predicted the co-occurrence of substance use and dating violence; in general, trauma symptomatology was not found to be a significant mediator.MAS