The Moderating Role of Family Communication Patterns in the Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Tendency Toward Addiction in Adolescent Boys

Abstract

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the moderating role of family communication patterns in the relationship between childhood trauma and the tendency toward addiction in adolescent boys.

Methods and Materials: The research method was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population consisted of all adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, from seventh to twelfth grade, in the year 2023. The research sample included 380 individuals selected through multistage cluster sampling. They were evaluated using the Ahvaz Addiction Tendency Questionnaire, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and the Revised Family Communication Patterns (RFCP) questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 21 software at both descriptive and inferential levels, and hypothesis testing was conducted using hierarchical regression analysis.

Findings: The results showed a positive and significant relationship between dimensions of childhood trauma and the tendency toward addiction (p ≤ 0.05), as well as a positive and significant relationship between conformity and the tendency toward addiction (p ≤ 0.05). However, there was a negative and significant relationship between conversation orientation and the tendency toward addiction (p ≤ 0.05). Additionally, family communication patterns moderated the relationship between physical abuse and the tendency toward addiction, as well as the relationship between emotional abuse and the tendency toward addiction. However, family communication patterns did not moderate the relationship between physical neglect and the tendency toward addiction, nor the relationship between emotional neglect and the tendency toward addiction. Family communication patterns did moderate the relationship between sexual abuse and the tendency toward addiction.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that family communication patterns mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and the tendency toward addiction in adolescent boys.