For decades, researchers and clinicians have recognized a strong link between childhood trauma and later addictive behaviors. Yet a key question remains: what explains that connection?
New research from Amanda Giordano at the University of Georgia Mary Frances Early College of Education found that arousal dysregulation—or disrupted functioning of the autonomic nervous system—may predict substance use and behavioral addictions in college students.
Specifically, researchers looked at two arousal extremes as predictors of addiction, including hyperarousal, or when the body is in fight-or-flight mode exhibiting hypervigilance and increased heart rate, and hypoarousal, or when the body is in freeze mode exhibiting an absence of emotions as well as feelings of numbness and emptiness.
“We wanted to explore the extent to which childhood trauma affects college students’ engagement in potentially addictive behaviors, but mediated through hyperarousal or hypoarousal,” said associate professor Giordano, who teaches in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services.
“We believe that trauma and addiction have a complex relationship that we want to try to understand better. People who’ve experienced early trauma may oscillate in between hyperarousal and hypoarousal at different times and then turn to different addictive behaviors in an attempt to regulate their internal states.”
How trauma influences addictive behaviors
From a sample of 395 college students, Giordano examined both direct and indirect pathways from childhood trauma to a range of addictive behaviors and substance uses, including online gaming, social media use, self-injury, alcohol, stimulants without a prescription, nicotine, and more.The study confirmed that childhood trauma is linked to both arousal states, but that they were associated with different addictive behaviors.
Specifically, hypervigilance significantly predicted all eight addictive behaviors, while emotional numbness only predicted two—social media addiction and sex addiction.
“There is some evidence to suggest that hyperarousal may be more common, or used as the first line of defense, and if that doesn’t work, individuals may resort to hypoarousal,” said Giordano. “In our study, hyperarousal was more prominent in predicting addictive behaviors—in fact, all of the behaviors we studied.”
Because emotional numbness predicted only social media addiction and sex addiction, more questions were raised about if these two behaviors provide stimulating or excitatory effects that serve as a temporary escape from numbness and detachment.
In contrast, individuals who are hypervigilant may seek out a range of different kinds of addictive behaviors either to maintain a state of hypervigilance or to create a calming effect, depending on their current needs.
“The pathways indicate that childhood trauma leads to arousal extremes, and arousal extremes make it hard for a person to regulate their internal emotional states, then they come across an addictive behavior that’s positively and negatively reinforcing, and it can change how they feel by using an external source,” said Giordano. “Those with early trauma and arousal extremes may be particularly vulnerable to employing addictive behaviors as a coping strategy.”
The study also found a direct link between early trauma and sex addiction outside of emotional dysregulation, further proving the complexity of childhood trauma and addictive behaviors.
Integrating both trauma and addiction in counseling practice
For counselors working with college populations, the study reinforces the importance of assessing trauma history when addressing addictive behaviors.However, Giordano also emphasizes the need for an integrated approach when treating addiction that considers trauma, as well as other contributing factors.
“I ascribe to the biopsychosocial model of addiction, which means there are a lot of risk factors that could increase a person’s susceptibility to addiction,” said Giordano. “It’s not just one factor. We consider genetics, age of initiation, mental health concerns, social norms, modeling, availability, and trauma. So, trauma is just a piece of this puzzle, not the whole picture, because there were a lot of variances left unexplained in these addictive behaviors.”
In practice, counselors can help college students develop adaptive emotion regulation skills, so they can effectively modify their internal states without relying on addictive behaviors.
“It’s necessary to understand the magnitude of what trauma can do to the arousal system, while having empathy for people who’ve experienced it,” said Giordano. “For people with trauma who are trying to cope through addictive behaviors, it can seem like their best option, but in counseling, we can help them realize that addictive behaviors are not actually a solution—they are just going to lead to more problems. Counselors can introduce coping and emotion regulation strategies that actually work, while also attending to the client’s past trauma.”