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Brief Report: A web‐based pilot study of childhood sexual abuse, recent stressful events, and alcohol use in women
Author(s) -
Sartor Carolyn E.,
O'Malley Stephanie S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the american journal on addictions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.997
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-0391
pISSN - 1055-0496
DOI - 10.1111/ajad.12348
Subject(s) - medicine , alcohol abuse , clinical psychology , psychiatry , alcohol consumption , sexual abuse , injury prevention , suicide prevention , poison control , psychology , alcohol , medical emergency , biochemistry , chemistry
Background and Objectives Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a well‐documented risk factor for problem drinking, but the possibility that recent stressful events exacerbate risk conferred by CSA has rarely been examined, and the few studies to do so have limited their investigations to negative events. The aim of the current study was to examine the associations between CSA, recent positive and negative stressful events, and women's alcohol consumption. Methods Eighty‐nine women (42.7% reporting CSA) completed weekly web‐based alcohol use surveys and a stressful event inventory assessing negative and positive events over a 12 week period. Results Independent of CSA history, experiencing negative events was associated with elevated likelihood of drinking to intoxication. Discussion and Conclusions Proximal distressing events are more closely linked than CSA history to short‐term drinking patterns. Scientific Significance Tracking stressful negative events may be informative for identifying precipitants of heavy drinking. (Am J Addict 2016;25:184–187)