Childhood maltreatment and alcohol-related problems in young adulthood: The protective role of parental warmth

• Published in: Child abuse & neglect Vol. 98; p. 104238
• Main Authors: Shin, Sunny H., Wang, Xiafei, Yoon, Susan H., Cage, Jamie L., Kobulsky, Julia M., Montemayor, Benjamin N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2019; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Alcohol abuse; Alcohol use; Antisocial Behavior; Child abuse; Child abuse & neglect; Child maltreatment; Childhood; Childrearing practices; Drinking; Emotional abuse; Emotions; Father involvement; Mothers; Parent-child relationship; Parental warmth; Parenting style; Parents & parenting; Protective factors; Psychological problems; Risk factors; Symptoms; Urban areas; Vulnerability; Young adults; Child abuse; Parental warmth; Father involvement; Parent-child relationship; Child maltreatment; Alcohol use
• ISSN: 0145-2134; 1873-7757
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104238

Alcohol use among young adults is highly prevalent. Individuals exposed to childhood maltreatment are particularly vulnerable to alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Few studies have examined family protective factors, such as parental warmth, that may mitigate the effects of childhood maltreatment on alcohol-related problems. The current study seeks to examine the extent to which parental warmth reduces the effect of childhood exposure to maltreatment on alcohol-related problems in young adulthood. Participants were young adults (N = 337; mean age = 21.7), who were recruited from an urban community and completed in-person interviews assessing childhood maltreatment, parental warmth, and alcohol-related problems. Multiple hierarchical linear regression models were used to examine whether maternal and paternal warmth reduced the impact of childhood exposure to maltreatment on alcohol-related problems in young adulthood. Common risk factors for alcohol-related problems, including psychological symptoms and peer and parental alcohol use, were also entered into the models. We found a significant moderating effect of paternal warmth on the associations between childhood emotional abuse and alcohol-related problems (β= -0.29, p < .05). Specifically, the association between emotional abuse and alcohol-related problems was weaker among individuals with higher levels of paternal warmth. Moderating effects of maternal warmth on the maltreatment-problematic alcohol use relation were not supported. The results of this research suggest that parental warmth may not only relate to fewer alcohol-related problems among offspring, but may also modify the associations between childhood emotional abuse and alcohol-related problems during young adulthood.