What
we see and experience in childhood, we never forget in later life. The harsh
experiences in childhood affect our entire personality. The adverse childhood
experience could be in the form of sexual and physical abuse, drug abuse,
neglect, fighting and quarrelling parents, domestic violence, etc.
Adverse
childhood experience (ACEs), affects the emotional, behavioral and cognitive
development of a child. This impact may be due to the unhealthy environment and
actual changes in the brain anatomy and functioning during the growing up
years. People who have experienced ACEs may resort to smoking as a viable
coping mechanism.
Researcher
Tara Strine and colleagues conducted a study that was published in Substance Abuse
Treatment, Prevention and Policy 2012, for examining 'psychological distress as
a potential mediator of sex-specific associations between ACEs and adult
smoking.'
The
experts collected data from 7,210 Kaiser-Permanente members in San Diego
California between April and October 1997.
The
researchers noticed that more that more than 60 percent of the volunteers
reported a past history of ACE. They found a difference in the relationship
between ACE's, psychological distress and adult smoking among sexes.
The
experts observed that females who had suffered emotional and physical trauma in
their early years were 1.4 times more susceptible to smoking in adulthood.
Furthermore women having one of their parents imprisoned had 50 percent more
chances of smoking.
The
psychological anguish accounted a remarkable relationship between smoking and
ACE among women- emotional abuse 21 percent, physical neglect 15 percent,
physical abuse 16 percent, divorce or parental separation 1o percent. In men
ACE and smoking were not significantly related.
The
lead author Dr. Tara Strine said that psychological stress raised the
probability that both sexes might smoke.
Dr.
Tara Strine mentioned that since ACEs increase the risk of psychological
distress for both men and women it seemed intuitive that an individual
experiencing an ACE will be more likely to be a tobacco cigarette smoker.
The
association between ACE such as psychological distress and smoking was more
pronounced in women than their male counterparts. Men who have experienced
childhood trauma may have different coping mechanisms than their female
counterparts.
The
study findings highlight the significance of smoking cessation strategies and
campaigns in providing fruitful results in order to protect the female children
from resorting to smoking in their adulthood.
Reference:
The mediating sex-specific effect of
psychological distress on the relationship between adverse childhood
experiences and current smoking among adults; Tara Strine et al; Substance
Abuse Treatment, Prevention and Policy 2012
Source-Medindia
Careers
