Exposure to Traumatic Events Among Treatment-Seeking, Alcohol-Dependent Women and Men Without PTSD

The authors examined lifetime exposure to a range of traumatic events in 106 abstinent, treatment-engaged (85% residential; 15% outpatient), alcohol-dependent women (n = 53) and men without current or lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder. Alcohol-dependent women reported greater severity of childhood trauma, but similar lifetime exposure to traumatic events compared with men. Alcohol-dependent women without cocaine abuse or dependence (n 10) reported greater severity of childhood trauma than women with (n = 43), and men with (n = 21) or without (n = 32) cocaine abuse or dependence. Results extend previously observed gender differences in trauma histories among alcohol-dependent adults and point to potential gender- and substance-specific drug coaddiction effects that may have been influenced by trauma exposure.