The purpose of the present study was to explore gender differences in the relationship between trauma and relapse to alcohol and other substance use by examining trauma history and symptoms as predictors of relapse in abstinent male and female alcoholics who were participating in outpatient treatment. This study builds upon the extant literature by incorporating multiple, validated assessments of childhood and lifetime trauma as well as a measure of current trauma symptoms, which has not been incorporated into prior studies of gender differences in the relationship between trauma and relapse. Based on previous findings,13 our exploratory hypothesis was that the extent of trauma history and current trauma symptoms would predict relapse in women only.
