Abstract
College can be a highly stressful part of life, which can result in students being at increased risk for developing high risk health behaviors including substance abuse and eating disorders. Adverse life experiences often play a large role in increasing students’ susceptibility to these disorders and behaviors. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Survey is a tool used to measure the relationship between childhood trauma and the chronic diseases and social/emotional tribulations that individuals develop as adults. The current study sought to determine the correlation between adverse childhood experiences and both substance abuse and eating disorders in college populations. Fifty- nine UNCA undergraduates completed the ACES questionnaire, the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), and the Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Involvement Scale (AADIS). Results indicated no significant relationship between ACE scores and later eating disordered behavior or substance use/abuse in this college population. While these results are not consistent with an extensive body of literature indicating a relationship between these variables in later adulthood they do suggest that there are other factors unique to college students that may have negated this relationship in this subset of our population.
How to Cite
Hoover, E., (2014) “The Effects of Childhood Trauma on the Development of Substance Abuse and Eating Disorders in College Populations”, Capstone, The UNC Asheville Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship 27(1).
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