(i.e. trauma checklist vs behavioral assessment), time period assessed, nature of the sample (e.g. general population, adult, or college) and inclusion of spanking as physical abuse may account for these differences. Furthermore, trauma exposure is associated with elevated risk for early initiation of alcohol use and AUD in adolescent girls and women (Sartor et al., 2011; Wu et al., 2010) yet trauma exposure is higher and rates of problem drinking are lower in AA than EA women (Duncan et al., 2014; Grant et al., 2012; Grucza, Bucholz, Rice, & Bierut, 2008; Heath et al., 1999; Sartor et al., 2013). This seemingly paradoxical relationship between trauma exposure and alcohol outcomes in EA and AA women suggests existing environmental etiological models of AUD development do not fit as well for AA as EAs.
