Repeated victimization of women substance abusers: Neuropsychological variables

Alcohol and substance abuse in adulthood has frequently been associated with the experience of physical and/or sexual abuse. Women who report physical and/or sexual abuse in chemical dependency treatment programs often report such abuse as occurring throughout their lives, both in childhood and adulthood. Because both substance abuse and physical and sexual abuse can affect neuropsychological functioning and may impact treatment, this study was designed to examine whether such abuse interferes with the functioning of the brain areas involved in memory, strategy formation, and perseveration in female substance abusers.;Thirty-six women in a treatment program for drug and alcohol use and abstinent from drugs and alcohol for at least 20 days were included in the study. Briere's (1992b) Childhood Maltreatment Interview Schedule - Short Form was used to classify women as having experienced physical and/or sexual abuse in childhood, physical abuse in adulthood, or no abuse. Analyses compared women who reported physical and/or sexual abuse in childhood or adulthood with women who reported physical and/or sexual abuse in both childhood and adulthood. It was hypothesized that childhood physical and/or sexual abuse and subsequent revictimization in this sample of substance abusing women would be significantly more common than the absence of such abuse. It was further hypothesized that women who had been revictimized would demonstrate greater deficits than women who were not revictimized on verbal and visual measures of memory, strategy formation, and perseveration.;Memory was assessed using Logical Memory, Story A, 30-Minute Delayed Recall from the Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised and 30-Minute Delayed Recall of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure. Strategy formation and perseveration were assessed using a Verbal Fluency task and Ruff Figural Fluency.;Experience of physical and/or sexual abuse was significantly more likely than not in this sample. Eighty-nine percent of the subjects reported physical and/or sexual abuse in childhood and/or adulthood. Women who reported being revictimized demonstrated significantly greater deficits in verbal memory and significantly more verbal perseverations than women who were not revictimized. Women who were not revictimized demonstrated more visual perseverations than women who reported revictimization.