The Impact of Adversity and Family Conflict on Risk for Future Substance Use Among Young Adolescents in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study): A Cohort Analysis

Problem

Early initiation of substance use ($\le$ 14 years old) constitutes a key target for intervention strategies. This study investigated associations between exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and risk for future substance use among young adolescents in the United States (US); the moderating effect of family conflict was also explored.

Methods

Mixed-effects modeling was used to analyze self-report data collected from adolescents and parents at baseline and 3-year follow-up (Y3) in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study) (Data Release 5.1, 2016–2022, US).

Findings

After adjusting for socio-demographic covariates, significant positive associations were found between adolescent ACEs score at baseline (ages 9–10) and risk for future alcohol (b = 0.03, p < 0.001), cigarette/e-cigarette (b = 0.04, p < 0.001), and marijuana use (b = 0.06, p < 0.001) at Y3 (ages 12–13) (n = 10,213 dyads). Family conflict reported at baseline was not found to moderate these associations.

Conclusions

Cumulative ACEs exposure was associated with increased risk for future alcohol, cigarette/e-cigarette, and marijuana use among a national sample of young adolescents. Findings highlight the potential for trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate preventative interventions to mitigate risk for future substance use among adversity-impacted adolescents.