There are several possible explanations for the childhood maltreatment–alcoholism association. One possibility is that childhood maltreatment leads directly to alcoholism. Alternatively, background genetic and/or environmental risk factors may contribute to a shared vulnerability for both childhood maltreatment and alcoholism. For example, familial alcoholism and poor parenting are risk factors for both childhood maltreatment (Fergusson et al. 1996b; McLaughlin et al. 2000; Dube et al. 2001; Dunn et al. 2002; Walsh et al. 2003) and alcoholism (Cotton, 1979; Holmes & Robins, 1988; Campo & Rohner, 1992; Sher et al. 1997; Prescott, 2002; Anda et al. 2006).
