Symptoms of traumatic stress and substance use in a non-clinical sample of young adults Carla Edwards * , Douglas N. Dunham, Anthony Ries, Jerrold Barnett Northwest Missouri State University Abstract The link between symptoms of traumatic stress and substance abuse is well established in the literature, but the specific features of trauma that contribute to substance abuse remain elusive and have not been studied in non-clinical samples. The current study assessed the relationship between traumatic symptoms and alcohol use in a sample of Midwestern college students. Using multiple regression analysis, traumatic stress symptoms, overall, accounted for 55% of the variance in use of alcohol. Most importantly, dissociative behavior, intrusive thoughts, as well as low levels of tension reduction behaviors uniquely contributed to the self-reported use of alcohol. We discuss the importance of educating college-aged students about this relationship as a preventative measure to alcohol and other drug use/abuse. D 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Alcohol; Substance use; Trauma; College students A substantial body of empirical evidence has indicated a robust relationship between substance abuse and symptoms of traumatic stress (Brady, 1997; Coffey, Dansky, Falsetti, Saladin, & Brady, 1998). The number of substance abusers and chemically dependent individuals who report a history of traumatic stress disorders is quite significant (estimates range from 24% to 85% with substance abusers falling in lower ranges and chemically dependent individuals falling in higher ranges) compared to the general population. Only 15% to 30% of non-substance abusers report 0306-4603/$ - see front matter D 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2006.02.009 * Corresponding author. 2360 Colden Hall, Department of Psychology, Sociology, and Counseling, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO 64468, USA. E-mail address: edwards@mail.nwmissouri.edu (C. Edwards). Addictive Behaviors 31 (2006) 2094 – 2104