Child maltreatment is tied to later opioid use and misuse in adulthood, according to a new study.
The researchers conducted a systematic literature review to identify studies examining the relationship between childhood maltreatment and later opioid use.
They identified 11 studies which varied considerably in how child maltreatment was measured (e.g., cutoffs for when child maltreatment ended, as well as the frequency, intensity, duration, or perpetrators of child maltreatment) and how opioid use was characterized.
Child maltreatment was directly associated with opioid use across nine of the 11 studies.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines child maltreatment as abuse (physical, sexual, or emotional) or neglect that occurs before the child is 18 years old that parents, caregivers, or individuals in custodial roles (e.g., coaches, pastors) perpetrate.
Specifically, the review found that across abuse types, there was a relationship between child maltreatment and adult opioid use disorder, prescription opioid use, or younger age of onset for opioid use.
“While this study has advanced our understanding of which types of maltreatment show consistent ties to opioid use in adulthood, there is still much more to learn about the frequency, duration, and intensity of opioid use among individuals who have experienced child maltreatment,” says lead author Susan M. Snyder, an associate professor in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies’ School of Social Work at Georgia State University
“Perhaps one of the most important implications of this study is to reinforce the importance of early detection of child maltreatment and early intervention to potentially prevent the initiation of opioid use in adulthood,” says DiGirolamo.
The research appears in the journal Traumatology.
Additional coauthors are from Georgia State and the State University of New York at Binghamton.
Source: Georgia State University
