Sexual Trauma and Addiction Severity in Military Veterans With Substance Use Disorder

Abstract

Among veterans, sexual trauma’s associations with addiction problems and treatment effectiveness are unclear. Veterans at three Midwest Veterans Affairs treatment sites were interviewed at baseline (N_BL = 193) and six-month follow-up (N_FU = 137) using the Life Events Checklist (LEC) and Addiction Severity Index–Lite (ASI-L). Those with sexual trauma had more severe baseline drug use, medical, and psychiatric status. Treatment improved all domains except employment and legal, but drug use and psychiatric disparities remained at follow-up. A family and social disparity emerged, and was the only follow-up domain predicted by sexual trauma (β = 0.21, p < 0.05).

Keywords:

• Alcohol
• drugs
• sexual trauma
• substance use disorder
• veteran

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lance Brendan Young

Lance Brendan Young, PhD, MBA, earned a PhD in communication studies at the University of Iowa and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship with the Department of Veterans Affairs. He is currently associate professor in the Department of Communication at Western Illinois University–Quad Cities. His research interests include the role of social support in substance use disorder and recovery, and patient–provider communication.

Christine Timko

Christine Timko, PhD, is a senior research career scientist in the Health Services Research and Development Service, Department of Veterans Affairs. She is also a consulting professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Within her addiction research at the Center for Innovation to Implementation in Menlo Park, California, Dr. Timko’s interests are evidence-based practices to facilitate transitions between levels and types of health care, such as detoxification to substance abuse treatment, and helping family and friends of individuals with substance abuse problems.

R. Dario Pulido

R. Dario Pulido, PhD, holds a doctorate in psychology from George Mason University. He is a licensed clinical psychologist on the staff of the VA Nebraska–Western Iowa Health Care System in Omaha.

Kimberly A. Tyler

Kimberly A. Tyler, PhD, is a professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Her areas of research include child abuse and neglect, high-risk adolescents, sexual victimization, HIV risk behaviors, social networks, and dating violence connected with substance use.

Jamie L. Simpson

Jamie L. Simpson, PhD, holds a doctorate in psychology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She is the director of the Luther College of Arts and Sciences at Midland University.

Monica Meeks

Monica Meeks, BA, is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis. At the VA Nebraska–Western Iowa Health Care System in Omaha, she served as a research data analyst in the substance use disorders program. She has also served as the coordinator for the Holy Family Surgery Clinic in the department of Francisco Morazon, Honduras. She is a fourth-year medical student at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Kathleen M. Grant

Kathleen Grant, MD, is a staff physician at the Omaha VA Medical Center. She is also an associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, as well as an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Creighton University School of Medicine. She is primarily a clinician and educator but also performs clinical research in substance use disorders. Her research interests are the treatment of nicotine addiction in persons with other substance use disorders, methamphetamine dependence, the role of social support in recovery from substance use disorders, and the treatment of addictions in rural settings and corrections populations.