Study strengths are also noted. This was the first investigation to differentiate between the risk of alcohol dependence conferred by physical and emotional neglect, and assess the associations between adult lifetime DSM-IV alcohol dependence and five maltreatments (sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect and emotional neglect) using a nationally representative dataset large enough to identify the unique effect of these maltreatments controlling for demographics, co-occurring maltreatments and other traumatic childhood events. We also provided information on circumstances under which sexual abuse, physical abuse and emotional neglect may result in alcohol dependence. Thus, the present findings contribute a significant advance in our understanding of the associations of childhood abuse and neglect with adult alcohol dependence.
