Abstract
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may be predictors of cannabis use among youth. Our study aimed to examine the prevalence of ACEs and assess the relationship between exposure to individual ACEs and cannabis use behavior among Connecticut high school students. We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis using a representative sample of 1760 high school students who participated in the 2021 Connecticut Youth Risk Behavior Survey. We examined lifetime and past 30-day cannabis use history by exposure to eight different ACEs. Group differences were investigated using descriptive statistics and generalized linear models. 20.6% reported lifetime cannabis use and 11.1% reported past 30-day cannabis use. ACEs ranged in prevalence from 5.4% for sexual abuse to 35.6% for verbal abuse. Each ACE examined in this analysis was associated with elevated prevalence of lifetime and past month cannabis use. ACEs were common among Connecticut high school students and students exposed to ACEs were more likely to report using cannabis.
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Data Availability
Data used for this study are available upon request. To request data, please refer to the instructions described here: https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Health-Information-Systems--Reporting/Hisrhome/Connecticut-School-Health-Survey.
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We are grateful for the technical assistance provided by Justin Peng, Celeste Jorge, Xi Zheng, Sarju Shah, and Allison Sullivan.
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King, J., Codner, A. & Poulin, S. Cannabis Use and Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Connecticut High School Students. Int J Ment Health Addiction (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-023-01236-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-023-01236-2