Relationship between childhood abuse and substance misuse problems is mediated by substance use coping motives, in school attending South African adolescents

In adults, it has been shown that the relationship between childhood abuse and substance misuse problems is mediated by the belief that substance use helps cope with negative affective states. By contrast, in adolescents, it is unknown whether drug use coping motives play this same mediating role. Secondary analysis of 1149 school attending adolescents in Cape Town, South Africa (average age = 16.24 years, range = 13–23; 60% female)....