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Young people who grow up witnessing violence in their home or neighborhood are at increased risk of substance abuse later in life, a new study published by a University of Texas at Arlington social work professor found.
The study, led by Professor Philip Baiden, analyzed data from the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and included responses from more than 20,000 adolescents ages 14 to 18 from across the United States. According to the findings, one in four young people is exposed to some form of violence in their neighborhood or home while growing up, whether it be physical assaults, shootings or gang activity.
Previous research has linked the prevalence of violence during adolescence to risks such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorders, as well as increased aggression. Baiden’s survey, though, took advantage of an unusually large sample size to draw a connection between childhood violence and substance abuse.
Young adults who identified themselves as having witnessed violence during their childhoods all reported higher rates of cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, electronic vaping, marijuana use and prescription opioid misuse than their peers who had not grown up in violent environments. Baiden said this may be because the type of psychological stress that witnessing violence triggers is more prone to retraumatization than other everyday stressors, which can affect long-term mental health wellness.
Substance abuse has been linked to increased risk of disease and social and economic consequences. With that in mind, Baiden believes his report leads to the conclusion that childhood violence is as much a public health crisis as it is a public safety one.
“The stress and trauma from [neighborhood violence] makes it very difficult for youth to concentrate and function,” Baiden told the Observer. “For youth who are from neighborhoods that are particularly prone to violence, they experience another [level of] stress, which does lead to mental health outcomes such as substance use.”
While the link between childhood violence and substance abuse was consistent across ages and geographies, Baiden recorded a difference in the types of drugs male and female respondents turned to. Adolescent women were more likely to use alcohol, marijuana and prescription opioids, while adolescent men reported higher rates of cigarettes, hard drugs such as ecstasy, cocaine and heroin, and injection drugs. Part of this is a social response, Baiden said; young women are more likely to turn to drugs they perceive as “safer,” or that are less stigmatized.
Some cultural differences could supersede the gender divide, though. Baiden found evidence that participation in some team sports suggested a higher likelihood that an adolescent would turn to alcohol over another substance. He found this to be one of the most “intriguing” conclusions in the study, and something that warrants more in-depth research.
Baiden believes the research will be most groundbreaking in helping to identify early-stage interventions for young people who have been exposed to violence.
“If we can identify these youth early enough, we can intervene and have measures in place that connect them with the right treatments and the right social services so that they can reduce the rates of substance use,” Baiden said.
