Analysis of the relationship between substance addiction and childhood traumatic experiences

Child abuse and neglect negatively affects the future life of the child and isolates it from the society.One of the most important problems that are thought to be related to childhood traumas is substance abuse. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between traumatic experiences and substance dependence in childhood. The type of research is a descriptive screening model.100 substance addicts registered in the Provincial Directorate of Health and 101 non-addicts constitute the universe of the research.The questionnaire used in the research consists of Personal information and Turkish trauma-Turkish-2.0. Data analysis was done by SPSS 16 package program. As a result of the research, female participants' perceptions of sexual abuse were higher than male participants. In addition, the physical neglect perception of individuals over the age of 36 was found to be higher than the others. However, it was determined that the perception of childhood traumas did not differ statistically due to the marital status, educational status and economic situation. A significant difference was found in terms of addiction status in terms of the scores of emotional abuse level which are sub-dimensions of childhood mental trauma scale (t=5.57, p<.001). Significant difference was found in terms of addiction status in terms of physical abuse level scores (t=5.41, p<.001). Significant difference was found in terms of dependency status in terms of physical neglect scores (t=3.51, p<.05). Significant difference was found in terms of addiction status in terms of scores regarding emotional neglect level (t=5.20, p<.001). There were no significant differences in terms of addiction status in terms of scores regarding sexual abuse level (t=1.37, p>.05). A significant difference was found in terms of the total scores obtained from the childhood mental trauma scale in terms of dependence status (t=6.34, p<.001). Keywords: Childhood Traumas, exploitation, neglect, substance abuse.