Walsall Town Centre on December 06, 2018 in Walsall, England. There were 268,390 adults in contact with drug and alcohol services in 2017 to 2018, according to a recent government report, which is a 4% reduction from the previous year. People in treatment for opiate dependence made up the largest proportion, and last year saw an increase of users seeking treatment for crack-cocaine addiction.
Bull and colleagues analyzed data from more than 6000 children born in Brisbane, Australia, from 1981 to 1983. Out of that, 10% or 609 study participants had at least one childhood maltreatment notification until they were 15 years old which was reported or substantiated by child protective service agencies. When the researchers compared them to the rest of the group, they found that those 609 individuals were 2.86 times more likely to end up hospitalized for an alcohol use disorder and 3.
The researchers divided childhood maltreatment into four categories: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. The study found that the risk of being hospitalized due to alcohol use disorder was highest among individuals who survived sexual abuse before 16 years of age. On the other hand, emotional abuse before 16 years of age was associated with a 3.10 times higher likelihood of hospital admission for a substance use disorder.
According to the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 40.3 million Americans who were 12 years or older had a substance use disorder in the last year.