Exposure to traumatic events among treatment‐seeking, alcohol‐dependent women and men without PTSD

Women and men with trauma histories comprise a significant proportion of the population seeking treatment for alcohol and other substance use disorders (Ouimette, Kimerling, Shaw, & Moos, 2000; Rice, et al., 2001). Although findings vary somewhat depending on the patient population, type of trauma examined, diagnostic criteria, and the measurement approaches employed, trauma exposure rates among substance abusers remain considerably higher than the general population (Briere & Elliott, 2003; Hyman, Paliwal, & Sinha, 2007). Much of the research in this area has focused either exclusively on women or men, or on a heterogeneous population with comorbid alcohol, other substance use disorders, and stress-related conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Back, Sonne, Killeen, Dansky, & Brady, 2003; Ouimette, et al., 2000). Studies that have compared women and men have found mixed results (Dansky, et al., 1996; Farley, Golding, Young, Mulligan, & Minkoff, 2004; Rice et al., 2001), with some studies demonstrating gender differences in traumatic exposure (Farley et al., 2004; Rice et al., 2001) and trauma outcomes (Danielson et al., 2009), and others finding more similarities than differences between women and men in treatment for alcohol and cooccurring drug addictions (Dansky et al., 1996). In order to address several gaps in the existing literature, we examined self-reported prevalence rates of exposure to traumatic life events in treatment-seeking women and men with alcohol dependence and other substance use disorders who did not have a current or lifetime diagnosis of PTSD. We also examined childhood and lifetime exposure to a wide range of traumatic events, thus, providing a more comprehensive assessment of trauma exposure than typically reported. Finally, we examined whether co-addiction (i.e., abuse or dependence) to cocaine and other stimulant drugs and gender have interactive effects on trauma exposure, as there are reports that these relationships may be substance-specific (Back, Sonne, Killeen, Dansky & Brady, 2003).