Adverse Childhood Experiences and Romantic Insecure Attachment Styles

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Romantic Insecure Attachment Styles: The Moderating Role of Substance Abuse Rachel G. Miller & David E. Szwedo James Madison University Introduction Measures Continued - When the abuse occurs in early childhood and within the home, the trauma is labeled as “developmental trauma, ” meaning the abuse is chronic and can have long lasting negative effects on their later development (Green & Myrick, 2014). - The more an individual was exposed to traumatic situations, or had a high severity level of childhood sexual abuse, the greater their substance use would be (Ullman, Relyea, Peter-Hagene & Vasquez, 2013). Alcohol and Drug Questionnaire (age 27) This questionnaire assessed alcohol and drug use with questions asking about age at first use, frequency, consequences around the usage, and types of substances used. Participants responded “ 1” for yes and “ 0” for no. Questions about frequency were measured on a likert scale with “ 1” being the lowest frequency and “ 5” being the highest frequency. Multi-Item Measure of Adult Romantic Attachment (ages 26 -28) Participants completed a thirty-six item self-report questionnaire about their romantic attachment to their partner. Questions asked about avoidant or anxious attachment and scoring was conducted on a likert scale with “ 1” being disagree strongly and “ 7” being agree strongly. Figure 1 - Adolescent substance abuse can help explain the connection between previous insecure attachments with abusers and later insecure adult romantic relationships (Schindler & Broning, 2014). This can be due to maladaptive coping. - Concerning the gender difference when it comes to substance abuse, there is a predominant male dependence on drugs including alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs (Kuhn, 2015). Hypotheses 1. Adults that have experienced more adverse childhood experiences (ACE) of abuse and neglect during their childhood will have a more insecure attachment with one’s romantic partners. This effect will be stronger for those with a greater amount of alcohol and drug use overall. 2. Males that have experienced more ACEs or abuse and neglect will have greater alcohol and drug use compared to females. 3. Females that have experienced more ACEs or abuse and neglect will have a more significant insecure attachment with their partners compared to males. Method Participants Full sample from larger study: N = 184 Gender 86 males 98 females Race/ethnicity 107 Caucasian 53 African American 24 Mixed/Other Rachel Miller mille 2 rg@dukes. jmu. edu Income Median = $40, 000 $59, 000 Measures Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (age 27) Adults completed a self-report ten item questionnaire about adverse childhood experiences from birth to age eighteen on experiences such as abuse, neglect, divorce, and parental incarceration. A higher score on the report indicates a greater number of adverse experiences. Figure 2 Results Correlations between study variables significant in final regression models are included in Table 1 below. Analyses were conducted using multiple regression, controlling for participant gender, and household income, as predictor variables. Interactions were examined between adverse childhood experiences, alcohol and drug use, and romantic attachment, gender, and income. After controlling for gender and income, two direct effects were concluded. A main effect between ACEs and total problems from alcohol (β =. 20, p =. 01) and a main effect between ACEs and anxious insecure attachment (β =. 22, p <. 01) are documented. Table 1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. Income Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 1. Participants with a higher ACE score who drank less per week had a more avoidant romantic attachment to their partner. Figure 2. Participants with a higher ACE score who had more problems from drinking in a year had a more avoidant romantic attachment to their partner. 2. Gender -. 11 - 3. ACE score (27) -. 24** . 11 - 4. Avg Drinks Per Week (27) . 23** -. 25** . 002 5. Ever Binged on Alcohol (27) . 32*** -. 22** 6. Often Binged in 30 days (27) . 23** 7. Total Problems from Alcohol (27) - Figure 3. Males with a higher reported ACE score had more total problems from drinking compared to females. -. 01 . 34*** - Figure 4. Males with a higher reported ACE score had a more anxious romantic attachment with their partner compared to females. -. 22** . 05 . 68*** . 86*** - . 08 -. 09 . 16* . 44*** . 41*** - 8. Ever Used Hard Drugs (27) . 33*** -. 27** . 06 . 42*** . 45*** . 42*** . 30** 9. How Often Used Hard Drugs (27) . 02 -. 19* . 09 . 41*** . 13 . 33*** . 42*** . 23* - 10. Avoidant Attachment (26 -28) -. 14 -. 13 . 09 . 11 -. 02 . 05 . 21** . 10 . 32*** - 11. Anxiety Attachment (26 -28) . 05 . 06 . 21** . 15 . 13 . 11 . 30** . 12 . 27** . 37*** Note. * = p <. 05, ** = p <. 01, *** = p <. 001 Discussion • Participants who experienced a lower amount of ACEs in their childhood who engage with alcohol tend to have a more insecure romantic attachment to their partner than participants with a high number of ACEs. - • Participants who experienced many ACEs in their childhood may have other factors impacting their romantic attachment with their partner such as resiliency or therapeutic counseling. These factors could buffer against using drugs or alcohol to cope with childhood abuse or neglect. • As predicted, males with a higher ACE score reported more total problems with alcohol compared to females. This outcome could imply that females rely on a different coping mechanism that is not alcohol or drug related. • Males with a higher ACE score reported more anxiety with their attachment to their romantic partner compared to females. This result could be due to another factor, such as females being more willing to be confrontational about their attachment.