Citation
Fatehi, Mariam (2024). ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES AND CAREGIVER RELATIONSHIP QUALITY: RISK AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS AMONG EMERGING ADULTS FOR PRESCRIPTION PAIN RELIEVER MISUSE.
Abstract
While it is well-established that prescription pain reliever misuse rates peak during emerging adulthood, there is limited understanding of how risk factors experienced during this developmental stage contribute to prescription pain reliever misuse. Additionally, there is limited understanding of underlying mechanisms that link childhood abuse experiences to prescription pain reliever misuse. Furthermore, no studies have examined the role of perceived adulthood status during emerging adulthood in prescription pain reliever misuse. The dissertation aims to address these gaps by proposing a conceptual model to investigate the risk and protective factors associated with the misuse of prescription pain relievers among emerging adults and adults. Data is from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health collected in five Waves from 1995-1996 to 2016-2018. Sample for this dissertation included all individuals who completed a survey at Wave 1, 3, and 5, exclusively those who responded about whether they had taken nonprescription pain relievers at Wave 5 (n = 9,950). This dissertation examined two developmental pathways for prescription pain reliever misuse in emerging adulthood and in adulthood. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships between observed and latent variables within the conceptual model including six socio-demographic variables, fourteen observed variables, and the latent variable assessing the quality of the caregiver-adolescent relationship. The findings demonstrated that the protective role of the caregiver-child relationship does not end with adolescence but continues into emerging adulthood and significantly protects emerging adults from several risk factors for prescription pain reliever misuse. The results suggested the underlying mechanism that linked childhood abuse to the likelihood of prescription pain reliever misuse. This dissertation underscores when smoking and binge drinking are coupled with a perceived adulthood status during emerging adulthood, the risk for prescription pain reliever misuse is likely to increase. The dissertation can serve as a foundation for future research in the application of emerging adulthood theory constructs to explore the relationship between risk factors during this developmental phase and the misuse of prescription pain relievers later in adulthood. It also paves the way for further contribution to the understanding of the complex factors involved in prescription pain reliever misuse.
Keyword(s)
Binge drinking
Reference Type
Thesis/Dissertation
Book Title
Doctor of Philosophy
Author(s)
Fatehi, Mariam
Year Published
2024
Volume Number
Ph.D
Publisher
University of Georgia
Reference ID
10422
