An exploration of addiction in adults experiencing early-life stress: a metasynthesis.
Carla Araujo Bastos Teixeira, Gerri Lasiuk, Sylvia Barton and 2 others
PMID 29020127WHAT IT FOUND
Adults who experienced childhood abuse or neglect described drugs, gambling, and sex as ways to cope with traumatic memories.
For nurses, this means asking about early-life stress and family violence when assessing adult addiction.
Key findings
01Across all 12 included qualitative studies, the major theme was that adults used psychoactive substances, gambling, and sex to cope with stressful circumstances experienced at an early age.
02Alcohol was identified as the drug of abuse in eight of the twelve studies.
03Nine of the twelve studies identified domestic violence as a fertile setting for child abuse and substance abuse.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The included studies relied on adults' self-report of early-life stress, and no instruments measured child abuse, so the review cannot confirm trauma exposure. The authors could not access participant transcripts, which limits the depth of interpretation. The review synthesizes experiences and themes; it does not test whether early-life stress causes addiction or whether nursing assessment or intervention changes outcomes. No single subtype of early-life stress stood out, so it cannot point to one specific trauma type to assess. The total number of participants across the 12 included studies is not reported, so the breadth of the evidence base is unclear.
Declared interests
The paper reports funding from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Brazil, process #206234/2014-7.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this metasynthesis as proof that childhood maltreatment causes adult addiction or that a specific nursing intervention prevents it. It synthesizes self-reported experiences from qualitative studies and does not test causal or treatment effects.