Childhood Maltreatment and Affective Symptoms and Severity of Drug Addiction among Chinese Male Drug Users: Variable-Centered and Person-Centered Approaches

Childhood maltreatment has been extensively linked to adult psychopathology, but the specificity and heterogeneity within this association remains inadequately understood. Research with non-Western samples also remains sparse. Using data from Chinese male adult drug users (N = 239) and utilizing both variable-centered and person-centered approaches, this study examined the link between childhood maltreatment (i.e., physical abuse and neglect, emotional abuse and neglect, and sexual abuse) and adult psychopathology (i.e., depressive symptoms, anxious symptoms, and severity of drug addiction). Variable-centered analyses indicated that when different types of maltreatment were considered in a single model, only emotional maltreatment stood out as a risk predictor for psychopathology, especially emotional abuse. Person-centered analyses identified three groups in which various types of maltreatment were configurated within individuals in distinctive patterns: the “rarely maltreated”, the “multiply abused”, and the “highly neglected” groups. Adult psychopathology varied across profiles. This study highlights the importance of utilizing both variable-centered and person-oriented approaches for a more complete delineation of the link between childhood maltreatment and adult psychopathology. Whereas variable-centered approaches are helpful for obtaining increased specificity, the person-oriented approaches are useful for tackling the heterogeneity. The findings have implications for interventions aimed at assisting drug users in Chinese cultural contexts.