On December 1st, Gabrielle Armstrong successfully defended her thesis entitled "Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Associations between Alcohol Use Disorder, Aggression, and Suicidality among Adolescents with PTSD."
Her project examined whether the presence of alcohol use disorder (AUD) was associated with outward aggressive behaviors, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts, and whether these associations differed across racial and ethnic groups in a nationally representative sample of adolescents with PTSD. Results indicated that AUD presence was significantly associated with higher odds of breaking items, attacking others, and threatening harm. Additionally, the association between AUD and breaking items was significantly stronger among Hispanic and Black adolescents, threatening harm was significantly higher among Hispanic adolescents, and attacking others was significantly lower among Hispanic adolescents relative to White adolescents. No significant differences were observed for threatening harm and attacking others among Black adolescents compared to White adolescents. No meaningful associations were observed for suicidal ideation or attempts. Overall, findings indicated that comorbid AUD is an important risk factor for outward aggressive behaviors (i.e., breaking items, attacking others, and threatening harm) among adolescents with PTSD and that the magnitude of aggression-related associations varies by race/ethnicity.
Moving forward, Gabrielle is working toward publishing this research and aims to expand upon these findings in her future work.