Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, jcpp.14173. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14173 Dr. Megan Bailey et al.
Points
- A Brazilian cohort study found that 81.9 percent of adolescents experienced childhood trauma, which significantly increased their risk of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use by age 18.
- Trauma exposure accounted for 37 percent of problematic alcohol use, 59 percent of smoking, and 28 percent of illicit drug use, indicating its strong predictive role in adolescent substance behaviors.
- Contrary to expectations, higher trauma exposure was associated with lower resting heart rate and blood pressure, despite trauma’s known negative impact on adult cardiovascular health.
- Researchers found that substance use partly explained the unexpected cardiovascular findings, revealing a complex interaction between trauma, physiological stress responses, and behavioral health outcomes.
- The study emphasizes the need for trauma prevention and early interventions in low- and middle-income countries to reduce substance use and better understand trauma’s long-term cardiovascular effects.
Summary
This longitudinal study, conducted using data from the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort in Brazil, aimed to investigate the impact of childhood trauma on substance use and cardiovascular health outcomes among adolescents. A total of 4,229 participants (51.9% boys) were followed from birth to age 18, with 81.9% of them exposed to trauma by age 18. Cumulative trauma up to ages 15 and 18 significantly increased the odds of problematic alcohol use, smoking, and illicit drug use at age 18, with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 1.25 to 1.44. Additionally, childhood trauma was found to explain a substantial portion of substance use, accounting for 37% of problematic alcohol use, 59% of smoking, and 28% of illicit drug use at age 18.
Despite the expected association between childhood trauma and elevated heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP), the study revealed an unexpected inverse relationship. Adolescents exposed to more trauma had lower resting HR and BP. Specifically, a reduction in resting HR and BP was observed among those with higher trauma exposure, which contrasts with the well-established link between trauma and poorer cardiovascular health outcomes in adulthood. Substance use partially mediated this effect, linking childhood trauma to cardiovascular health indices. These findings highlight a complex interaction between trauma, substance use, and cardiovascular health, with trauma leading to increased substance use and lower HR/BP in adolescence.
The study’s findings underscore the importance of addressing childhood trauma in adolescence, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) like Brazil. Interventions aimed at preventing trauma could reduce the risk of substance use and potentially improve cardiovascular health outcomes. The unexpected finding of lower HR and BP among trauma-exposed adolescents requires further investigation to understand better the long-term implications of childhood trauma on cardiovascular health across the lifespan. The results also stress the urgent need for early intervention and prevention strategies to mitigate the effects of trauma on adolescent health.
Link to the article: https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.14173
References Bailey, M., Fairchild, G., Hammerton, G., Santos, I. S., Tovo‐Rodrigues, L., Murray, J., Matijasevich, A., & Halligan, S. L. (2025). Childhood trauma, adolescent risk behaviours and cardiovascular health indices in the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, jcpp.14173. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14173
