Adverse Childhood Experiences, Coping and Resilience in Persons with Alcohol Use Disorder and Their Non-drinking Siblings in High-density Families: A Case-control Study

Sreenivasulu M; Vasuki Prathyusha; Sinu Ezhumalai; Gitanjali Narayanan; Pratima Murthy

doi:10.1177/02537176231219769

Adverse Childhood Experiences, Coping and Resilience in Persons with Alcohol Use Disorder and Their Non-drinking Siblings in High-density Families: A Case-control Study

Indian J Psychol Med. 2024 Mar;46(2):139-146. doi: 10.1177/02537176231219769. Epub 2024 Jan 11.

Authors

Sreenivasulu M¹, Vasuki Prathyusha², Sinu Ezhumalai¹, Gitanjali Narayanan³, Pratima Murthy⁴

Affiliations

¹ Dept. of Psychiatric Social Work, NIMHANS, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
² Dept of Bio-Statistics, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
³ Dept. of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
⁴ Dept of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Abstract

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase the odds of alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Aim: To study the ACEs, coping, and resilience in persons with AUD and their non-drinking siblings from high-density families.

Methods: The study used a case-control study design. Using purposive sampling, 135 participants were selected; the sample consists of persons with AUD (n = 45), non-drinking siblings (n = 45), and healthy controls (n = 45), selected from out-patient and in-patient services from a government-run de-addiction centre in Bengaluru. Individuals were administered an ACEs questionnaire, Brief-COPE, and Connor-Davison Resilience scale. Descriptive statistics, Friedman's test, and Bonferroni's post-hoc test, Binary Logistic Regression were used for analysis.

Results: ACEs, coping, and resilience significantly differ across the three groups. Persons with AUD and their non-drinking siblings are comparable in terms of ACEs and having dysfunctional family members. Non-drinking siblings and healthy controls have similar coping and resilience. None of the healthy controls had dysfunctional family members.

Conclusion: ACEs are more prevalent and more frequent in persons with AUD. Individuals with AUD showed higher avoidant coping and lower resilience than their non-drinking siblings and healthy controls. Early identification of ACEs and interventions to build resilience and coping strategies could prevent individuals from developing AUD in high-density families.

Keywords: Shared environment; non-shared environments; substance use.