A number of limitations should be considered in interpreting these results. First, all associations reported here should be interpreted with caution, due to the cross-sectional nature of the data. However, our results are consistent with numerous prior studies3,7,8,10 reporting associations between childhood trauma and drug use outcomes. Furthermore, the potential for reverse causation is minimized because we only included PTEs experienced before the age of 11 and drug use after the age of 10.
