Traumatic Experiences, Revictimization and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in German Inpatients Treated for Alcohol Dependence.
BACKGROUND
Traumatic experiences and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are prevalent in patients with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and affect its course and outcome. Prior prevalence reports are limited by the inclusion of individuals with additional substance use disorders (SUDs), a focus on childhood events only and the use of self-ratings only.


OBJECTIVES
To examine the prevalence of traumatic experiences, revictimization and PTSD in inpatients treated for alcohol dependence without other SUD, emphasizing interpersonal violence across the whole lifespan.


METHODS
For this cross-sectional study alcohol-dependent patients without additional SUD (N = 230, 73% male, mean age 43 years) were recruited in an inpatient detoxification unit and were administered the Structured Trauma Interview, the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale, and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Data analysis comprised descriptive statistics and appropriate significance tests.


RESULTS
36.2% reported severe childhood physical or sexual abuse and 45.6% reported at least one of these types of abuse in adulthood. The lifetime rate of interpersonal violence was 61.1%. The prevalence of current PTSD was 13.2%. Women with a history of childhood abuse were about seven times as likely to be victimized in adulthood as women without these experiences, while in men revictimization was not significant.


CONCLUSIONS
Even in patients with alcohol dependence without additional SUD experiences of interpersonal violence and PTSD are frequent. In order to adequately respond to the needs of this population, trauma and PTSD should routinely be assessed in alcohol-dependence treatment and considered in treatment planning if necessary.
['Grundmann|Johanna|J|', 'Lincoln|Tania M|TM|', 'Lüdecke|Daniel|D|', 'Bong|Sönke|S|', 'Schulte|Bernd|B|', 'Verthein|Uwe|U|', 'Schäfer|Ingo|I|']
D000328:Adult D000437:Alcoholism D002648:Child D002649:Child Abuse D015897:Comorbidity D019548:Crime Victims D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D005260:Female D005858:Germany D006801:Humans D007297:Inpatients D008297:Male D015995:Prevalence D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic D014754:Violence D055815:Young Adult
revictimization prevalence substance use disorder sexual abuse Childhood abuse physical abuse