There has been increasing
acceptance of marijuana use in the US in recent years, and rates among
adolescents have risen. At the same time, marijuana use during adolescence has
been linked to an array of health and social problems. Maltreated children are
at risk for marijuana use, but the relationships among characteristics of
maltreatment and marijuana use are unclear.
In this paper we examine how the
type and the extent of maltreatment are related to the level of adolescent
marijuana use. Data analyses were conducted on a subsample of maltreated
adolescents (n = 702) from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect
(LONGSCAN) project. Approximately half the sample had used marijuana, and
maltreatment was associated with its use.
Multivariate regression models showed
that being male, extensive maltreatment, and peer marijuana use were associated
with heavy use of marijuana.
These findings suggest the importance of
comprehensively assessing children’s maltreatment experiences and their peers’
drug use to help prevent or address possible marijuana use in these high-risk
adolescents.
…Maltreatment was associated
with marijuana use in bivariate models, but did not retain significance in
models that adjusted for peer marijuana use. In terms of type of maltreatment,
sexual abuse predicted marijuana use. This finding is consistent with earlier
research (Fergusson Boden
& Horwood, 2008; Moran et al.,
2004) which
found that physical abuse and sexual abuse (and these combined) predicted
substance abuse or dependence, although not specifically marijuana use.
Physical abuse has also been found to predict earlier onset of substance use in
young adolescents (Lansford et al.,
2010). Those
who experienced Extensive maltreatment were more likely to report Heavy Use of
marijuana. This finding is consistent with research suggesting the importance
of both early (e.g., Dodge et al.,
2009) and
recent (i.e., adolescent) exposure to maltreatment (e.g., Thornberry
Ireland & Smith, 2001). It appears likely that persistent exposure to maltreatment
carries an especially high level of risk for adolescent substance use (Thornberry et
al., 2014).
Indeed, Extensive CM was the one characteristic that significantly predicted
adolescent marijuana use, after taking into account demographic variables and
peer use.
… With these caveats, this
study’s findings, especially given earlier research, strongly suggest that
children exposed to physical and sexual abuse are at increased risk of
marijuana use. Child-serving professionals should begin to integrate the
findings from this and other studies into discussions about effective
interventions to decrease the likelihood of vulnerable populations engaging in
illicit drug use – in this case, marijuana. Prior research suggests the
importance of primary prevention and early intervention. Adolescents who use
substances have been found to increase their use during adolescence (Brown et al.,
2008; Maggs &
Schulenberg, 2005). This may be part of a risk-taking or emotional coping
approach common among adolescents with maltreatment experiences (Thompson et al., 2011). Alternatively, recent research with veterans
has highlighted the possibility that use of marijuana may be a form of
self-medication of some symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (Bonn-Miller, Vujanovic &
Drescher, 2011), and
our findings are consistent with this possibility as well. In any case, earlier
studies have found that maltreatment and other adverse childhood experiences
(ACEs) increase the likelihood of future substance use well into adulthood (Aarons et al., 2008; Fergusson et
al., 2008; Dube et al.,
2003; Huang et al.,
2011).
Therefore, it is important to disrupt these potential trajectories at the earliest
possible stage…
Full article at: http://goo.gl/PfQz68
By:
Howard Dubowitz, Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine,
Baltimore;
Corresponding
Author: Howard Dubowitz, Department of Pediatrics, University of
Maryland School of Medicine, 520 West Lombard Street, 1stFloor,
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
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