Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Alcohol Abuse among South Carolina Adults

ABSTRACT

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated with negative adult health outcomes, including alcohol misuse. The impact of ACEs on alcohol use may vary by gender, with ACEs impacting women more than men in coping with adulthood stressors. Objectives: The objective of this study is to examine the gender-specific relationships between ACEs and self-reported binge drinking and heavy drinking in adulthood among South Carolina residents. Methods: This study analyzed a sample of 8492 respondents who completed the 2014 or 2015 South Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. Logistic regression was used to examine the impact of types and the number of ACEs on binge drinking and heaving drinking in adulthood. Results: Thirty-seven percent of men and 22.8% of women survey respondents reported binge drinking and 12.2% of men and 4.1% of women reported heavy drinking. Almost all categories of ACE were associated with increased odds of reporting binge and heavy drinking; household mental illness had the greatest odds for men (aOR 1.31, 95% CI 1.30–1.33) and emotional abuse had the greatest odds for women (aOR 1.42, 95% CI 1.40–1.43). Men and women with four or more ACEs had greater odds of reporting binge and heavy drinking compared to their counterparts. Conclusions/Importance: Given the potential for negative outcomes associated with alcohol misuse and transmission of risky alcohol-related behaviors from parent to child, strategies that utilize a multigenerational approach could have a large impact on population health.

KEYWORDS:

• Child abuse
• alcoholism
• alcohol abuse
• adverse childhood experiences
• binge drinking

Funding

This project was supported in part by Children's Trust of South Carolina; South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control; and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention grants. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of Children's Trust of South Carolina, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, or U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the University of South Carolina's institutional review board as exempt. Although the present study used de-identified previously collected data and thus did not qualify as human subjects research, all procedures performed in the original study in which the data were collected (BRFSS) involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.

Informed consent

This study used data from BRFSS and did not include primary data collection or interaction with study participants; therefore, informed consent was not obtained here but rather during initial BRFSS data collection.