Patterns of Childhood Maltreatment and Maternal Substance Use Disorder on the Development of Emerging Adult Offspring Substance Use

Exposure to child maltreatment and maternal substance use disorder represent two highly consequential and co-occurring experiences of family-level adversity for the development of concerning substance use behaviors among offspring. The present study uses latent class analysis to identify how characteristics of childhood maltreatment and maternal substance use disorder naturally cluster. Further, this study investigates how distinct patterns of maltreatment and maternal substance use differentially predict emerging adult substance use in offspring. Participants (N = 405) were drawn from a longitudinal follow-up study of emerging adults who participated in a research summer camp program as children. Wave 1 of the study included 674 school-aged children with and without maltreatment histories, all of whom experienced low socioeconomic status. Patterns of child maltreatment experiences, based on coded Child Protective Services record data, and maternal substance use behaviors, per a diagnostic interview, were used to predict Wave 2 (emerging adulthood) substance use. Results indicated that children who were exposed to a pattern of multitype maltreatment and multitype maternal substance dependence, relative to those exposed to multitype maltreatment alone, reported greater alcohol dependence symptoms during emerging adulthood. Additionally, these same individuals reported greater past-year hard liquor consumption relative to those who experienced chronic, multitype maltreatment and maternal alcohol dependence. These findings highlight how a pattern of maternal polysubstance use and multitype maltreatment is particularly consequential for the intergenerational transmission of substance use behaviors. Public Significance Statement<br /> This study demonstrates that unique patterns of exposure to maltreatment and maternal substance use during childhood differentially inform substance use behaviors of offspring during emerging adulthood. Additionally, it provides greater opportunity for the identification of best-fitting interventions for families.