Childhood maltreatment, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and alcohol craving and dependence in alcohol-dependent males: Direct and indirect pathways

• Published in: Child abuse & neglect 2019-12, Vol.98, p.104197-104197, Article 104197
• Main Authors: Khosravani, Vahid, Samimi Ardestani, Seyed Mehdi, Sharifi Bastan, Farangis, Mohammadzadeh, Ali, Amirinezhad, Ali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age of onset; Alcohol craving; Alcohol dependence; Alcohol use; Alcoholism; Anxiety Disorders; Child abuse & neglect; Childhood; Childhood maltreatment; Cognition; Cognitive emotion regulation strategies; Compulsions; Craving; Demography; Drinking; Drinking behavior; Emotional regulation; Emotions; Health services utilization; Help seeking behavior; Indirect effects; Males; Medical diagnosis; Men; Obsessive compulsive disorder; Questionnaires; Self control; Trauma
• ISSN: 0145-2134; 1873-7757
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104197

Childhood maltreatment (CM) and cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERSs) may be important in alcohol craving and dependence in alcohol-dependent individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate direct effects of CM on the subscales of alcohol craving and alcohol dependence and its indirect effects via CERSs in individuals with a diagnosis of alcohol dependence. In a cross-sectional design, 329 alcohol-dependent males completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Short version (CERQ-Short), the Alcohol Dependence Scale (ADS), the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS), and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Participants with alcohol dependence had early age of onset of alcohol use (mean = 20.78 years), relatively long duration of alcohol use (mean = 11.14 years), and low education (mean = 9.55 years). Indirect effects were observed from CM to the subscales of alcohol craving and dependence only through maladaptive CERSs after adjusting for demographic and clinical factors. No direct effect was observed through CM on the subscales of alcohol craving and dependence. Although drawing causal conclusions from the current research is impossible, the findings suggest that maladaptive CERSs may be a possible mechanism relating CM to alcohol craving and dependence in treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent individuals, while adaptive CERSs may be less important regarding this relation. However, the findings of the current study need longitudinal research.