Assessing the Relationship Between Childhood Victimization and Excessive Binge Drinking in Adulthood

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between childhood victimization and adulthood binge drinking. Although this association is well established in the literature (e.g., Werner et al., 2016), we know little about differential effects associated with several abuse types. We used the Statistics Canada General Social Survey, Cycle 28, 2014 (GSS- Cycle 10) which included a nationally representative Canadian sample (N = 20,892). Childhood victimization included physical abuse, sexual abuse, as well as witnessing inter-personal violence. Binge drinking was defined as having had five or more drinks on the same occasion. The multivariate regression analysis found that child victimization is a robust risk factor for binge drinking in adulthood controlling for age and gender. In particular, physical and sexual violence in childhood significantly predicted higher levels of alcohol abuse in adulthood. Findings provide insight into intervention mechanisms specifically aimed at reducing both childhood abuse and risky alcohol consumption.