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Published Online: August 2013

PTSD as a Mediator Between Lifetime Sexual Abuse and Substance Use Among Jail Diversion Participants

Abstract

Objective

Many of the individuals with serious mental illness involved in the criminal justice system have experienced interpersonal victimization, such as sexual abuse, and have high rates of alcohol and drug use disorders. Little attention has been paid to the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its potential role in the substance misuse of offenders with mental illness.

Methods

The study used a path analytic framework to test the hypothesis that PTSD mediates the relationship between sexual abuse and level of alcohol and drug use among individuals (N=386) with mental illness enrolled in a multisite (N=7) jail diversion project.

Results

Sexual abuse was strongly associated with PTSD, which was in turn associated with both heavy drug use and heavy drinking.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that PTSD may be an important target for jail diversion programs.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
Go to Psychiatric Services

Cover: Summer Afternoon, by William Dean Fausett, 1943. Oil and tempera on masonite, 30 × 38 inches. Collection of the San Antonio Art League and Museum, San Antonio, Texas.

Psychiatric Services
Pages: 776 - 781
PubMed: 23633122

History

Published in print: August 2013
Published online: 15 October 2014

Authors

Details

Karen J. Cusack, Ph.D.
Dr. Cusack is now with the Raymond G. Murphy Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 1501 San Pedro SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108 (e-mail: [email protected]). Dr. Herring is with the Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Dr. Steadman is with Policy Research Associates, Inc., Delmar, New York.
Amy H. Herring, Sc.D.
Dr. Cusack is now with the Raymond G. Murphy Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 1501 San Pedro SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108 (e-mail: [email protected]). Dr. Herring is with the Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Dr. Steadman is with Policy Research Associates, Inc., Delmar, New York.
Henry J. Steadman, Ph.D.
Dr. Cusack is now with the Raymond G. Murphy Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 1501 San Pedro SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108 (e-mail: [email protected]). Dr. Herring is with the Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Dr. Steadman is with Policy Research Associates, Inc., Delmar, New York.

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