Toward a Better Understanding of the Relationship between Childhood Trauma and Psychiatric Disorders: Measurement and Impact on Addictive Behaviors

Research findings are consistent in supporting developmental models for psychiatric disorders, whereby childhood neglect or abuse is an important causal factor, increasingly for a range of disorders. However, it is now necessary for research on the developmentally traumatic roots of addictive behaviors to make a quantum leap, in order to provide more detailed patterns of associations between childhood experiences and addictive behaviors in a search for more specific models. In doing this, a valid, reliable, comprehensive, and detailed assessment of child maltreatment becomes essential for increasing our understanding of the origins of addictive behaviors in addition to other forms of psychopathology. In fact, given potential methodological issues around retrospective mea-surement, accurate recall, and willingness to report sensitive or stigmatizing personal information, the choice of a suitable measure of childhood maltreatment is a critical issue for both research and clinical purposes.