Childhood Trauma, Problematic Drug use and Coping: ‘Time to Check Out’

Childhood trauma contributes to increased risk of drug use, deviance and offending in adulthood, but less is known about the exact relationship that exists between these phenomena, particularly among men. Instead the precise nature of the relationship for men is equivocal and varies across research studies, thus illustrating the need for further investigation, which is the rationale underpinning this research. Consequently, this internationally situated study draws on research from the UK to investigate whether severity of childhood trauma and/or type of coping predicted problematic drug use among a group of 149 male drug-using offendersi. Results of this study showed high levels of childhood trauma did not impact on severity of drug use in adulthood or differentiate between offenders who used drugs non-problematically and those who developed more problematic patterns of use. Instead coping strategy predicted severity of drug use and being a problematic drug user. These results highlight the importance of early intervention and education with children to make them more resilient to substance use as well as inculcating coping strategies in trauma informed treatment. This study also contributes to the deficit in the international evidence base underpinning general strain theory and the self-medication model.