Investigating the role of emotion regulation in the relationship between childhood trauma and alcohol problems in American Indian adults

Objective: To investigate whether use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression interact with childhood trauma burden to predict alcohol problems in a sample of American Indian adults. Methods: Four hundred and twenty-nine American Indian adults (Mean age = 37.62, 59.5 % male) completed an online survey to measure childhood trauma exposure, perceived impact of childhood trauma, trait use of expressive suppression, and alcohol problems in adulthood. Results: Trait use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression interacted with childhood trauma burden to predict alcohol problems in adulthood. American Indian adults who reported high levels of childhood trauma burden who also reported frequent use of both cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression had significantly more alcohol problems compared to individuals who reported similarly high levels of childhood trauma burden who reported low use of these emotion regulation strategies. Conclusions: These findings provide initial evidence that emotion regulation interventions which focus on different emotion regulation strategies could be an effective way to offset the risk for alcohol problems associated with childhood trauma.