Abstract
PROBLEM: Early initiation of substance use ( ≤ 14 years old) constitutes a key target for intervention strategies. This study investigated associations between exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and risk for future substance use among young adolescents in the United States (US); the moderating effect of family conflict was also explored. METHODS: Mixed-effects modeling was used to analyze self-report data collected from adolescents and parents at baseline and 3-year follow-up (Y3) in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study) (Data Release 5.1, 2016-2022, US). FINDINGS: After adjusting for socio-demographic covariates, significant positive associations were found between adolescent ACEs score at baseline (ages 9-10) and risk for future alcohol (b = 0.03, p < 0.001), cigarette/e-cigarette (b = 0.04, p < 0.001), and marijuana use (b = 0.06, p < 0.001) at Y3 (ages 12-13) (n = 10,213 dyads). Family conflict reported at baseline was not found to moderate these associations. CONCLUSIONS: Cumulative ACEs exposure was associated with increased risk for future alcohol, cigarette/e-cigarette, and marijuana use among a national sample of young adolescents. Findings highlight the potential for trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate preventative interventions to mitigate risk for future substance use among adversity-impacted adolescents.