Research studies identifying risks for adolescent binge drinking have found a myriad of contributors ranging from genetic influences to environmental risk factors (Enoch, 2006). The current study found that childhood maltreatment is a robust risk factor for adolescent binge drinking. However, when the traditional method of maltreatment classification, where an individual is classified as ever experiencing one type of maltreatment, was used, childhood maltreatment was not associated with adolescent binge drinking, whereas childhood maltreatment was strongly associated with adolescent binge drinking when the co-occurrence of multiple categories of maltreatment was included. This finding indicates that further research is warranted to investigate the effects of different types of or combinations of types of maltreatment on adolescent risky drinking.
