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. 2014 Aug:55:35-43.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2014.04.018. Epub 2014 May 5.

Trauma, PTSD, and binge and hazardous drinking among women and men: findings from a national study

Lorig K Kachadourian  1 , Corey E Pilver  2 , Marc N Potenza  3
Affiliations

Trauma, PTSD, and binge and hazardous drinking among women and men: findings from a national study

Lorig K Kachadourian et al. J Psychiatr Res. 2014 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are differentially associated with binge and hazardous patterns of drinking among women and men.

Methods: Secondary analysis of the Wave 2 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC); the analytic sample included 31,487 respondents (54.6% female) without past-year alcohol abuse/dependence. Participants' trauma-exposure/PTSD status was characterized as: no exposure to trauma in lifetime (reference), lifetime trauma exposure, PTSD before past-year, or past-year PTSD. Past-year binge and hazardous drinking were examined with multinomial logistic regression models (past-year abstinence was modeled as the non-event); models included the main effects of trauma-exposure/PTSD status and gender, the trauma-exposure/PTSD status-by-gender interaction, psychiatric comorbidity, and socio-demographic covariates.

Results: The gender-specific effects of trauma, before past-year PTSD, and past-year PTSD were significantly elevated for all drinking behaviors in women (range of odds ratios (ORs) = 1.8-4.8), and for some drinking behaviors in men (range of ORs = 1.3-2.0), relative to no trauma exposure. Trauma exposure was more strongly associated with high-frequency binge drinking, low-frequency binge drinking, and non-binge drinking among women as compared to men. Past-year PTSD was also more strongly associated with low-frequency binge drinking and non-binge drinking among women compared to men. Findings for hazardous drinking followed a similar pattern, with significant gender-related differences in ORs for hazardous drinking and non-hazardous drinking observed with respect to trauma exposure and past-year PTSD..

Conclusion: Mental health practitioners should be mindful of the extent to which trauma-exposed individuals both with and without PTSD engage in binge and hazardous drinking, given the negative consequences associated with these patterns of drinking..

Keywords: Binge drinking; Epidemiology; Gender; Hazardous drinking; PTSD; Trauma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors report no conflict of interest with respect to content of the manuscript. Dr. Potenza lists the following disclosures. Dr. Potenza has consulted for Lundbeck and Ironwood pharmaceuticals; received research support from Mohegan Sun Casino, Psyadon pharmaceuticals, the National Center for Responsible Gambling, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH); has participated in surveys, mailings, or telephone consultations related to drug addiction, impulse-control disorders, or other health topics; has consulted for gambling, legal and governmental entities on issues related to addictions or impulse-control disorders; has provided clinical care in the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Problem Gambling Services Program; has performed grant reviews for the NIH and other agencies; has guest edited journal sections; has given academic lectures in grand rounds, Continuing Medical Education events, and other clinical or scientific venues; and has generated books or book chapters for publishers of mental health texts.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of past-year binge drinking outcomes according to trauma/PTSD status, by gender Among women, trauma-exposure/PTSD status is significantly associated with Binge Drinking (χ2=9.96, p<.001). Among men, trauma-exposure/PTSD status is significantly associated with Binge Drinking (χ2=3.77, p<.001). Gender is significantly associated with Binge Drinking among participants with no trauma exposure (χ2=18.50, p<.001), exposure to trauma (χ2=27.62, p<.001), before past-year PTSD (χ2=4.11, p=.0098), and past-year PTSD (χ2=3.67, p=.0166).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of past-year hazardous drinking outcomes according to trauma exposure/PTSD status, by gender Among women, trauma exposure/PTSD status is significantly associated with Hazardous Drinking (χ2=13.54, p<.001). Among men, trauma exposure/PTSD status is significantly associated with Hazardous Drinking (χ2=4.46, p<.001). Gender is significantly associated with Hazardous Drinking among participants with no trauma exposure (χ2=25.82, p<.001), exposure to trauma (χ2=34.32, p<.001), before past-year PTSD (χ2=5.77, p=.0049); gender was not significantly associated with Hazardous Drinking among participants with past-year PTSD (χ2=1.78, p=.1773).
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