What’s New in Psychology?

Childhood Trauma and Opioid Use

Jim Windell

            Why are people who had traumatic childhoods often highly likely to use drugs?

            Is it because drugs are a way of coping with their past? Because they emotionally crippled by childhood trauma? Because childhood trauma changes the brain areas that are related to addiction? Or is it for a different reason?

            Researchers at the University of Exeter explored this question.

            Comparing the effects of morphine on 52 healthy people, the scientists divided those participants into people who had a history of childhood abuse and neglect (27) and those who reported no such experiences in childhood (25). The study's participants were all aged 18-65 and each filled out the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, which asks about whether or not they experienced childhood trauma. Furthermore, each participant attended two sessions, a week apart, and received either an active dose of morphine (0.15mg/kg) or a negligible control dose (0.01mg/kg) in a randomized, double-blind crossover design. Their reaction to the morphine were measured by asking them a set of questions eight times – once before the morphine injections, then at regular intervals afterwards. Pain was also measured by placing a hand in cold water and recording how long it took the participant to find this painful and how long they could tolerate leaving their hand in the water.

            The results, published in Addiction Biology, showed that people who have experienced childhood trauma got a more pleasurable “high” from morphine. Also, those with childhood trauma liked morphine more, felt more euphoric and had a stronger desire for another dose. On the other hand, those participants who reported no childhood trauma were more likely to dislike the effects of morphine (an opiate drug) and to feel either dizzy or nauseous.

            One possible explanation for the differing responses to morphine, according to lead author Dr. Molly Carlyle, is that childhood trauma affects the development of the endogenous opioid system (a pain-relieving system that is sensitive to chemicals including endorphins -- our natural opioids). “It's possible that childhood trauma dampens that system,” says Carlyle, who conducted this research at Exeter and is now at the University of Queensland.

           “To our knowledge,” adds Dr. Carlyle, “this is the first study to link childhood trauma with the effects of opioids in people without histories of addiction, suggesting that childhood trauma may lead to a greater sensitivity to the positive and pleasurable effects of opioids.” She goes on to say that the results of this study may help explain the link between childhood trauma and vulnerability to opioid use disorder. This result may have implications for treatments and the prescribing of opioids medically.

           Professor Celia Morgan, of the University of Exeter, who led the research group, said that their findings that people who have been traumatized as children are more likely to enjoy morphine might help to reduce stigma around heroin use. “Many opioid addicts are people who were traumatized in early childhood, but it is still widely believed that addiction is a weakness and that addicts simply lack self-control. This research may be a step towards treating heroin addicts with more compassion, as we would children with histories of trauma.”

           To read the original journal article, find it with this reference:

Molly Carlyle, Rupert Broomby, Graham Simpson, Rachel Hannon, Leah Fawaz, O Merve Mollaahmetoglu, Jade Drain, Mohammod Mostazir, Celia J. A. Morgan. A randomised, double‐blind study investigating the relationship between early childhood trauma and the rewarding effects of morphine. Addiction Biology, 2021; DOI: 10.1111/adb.13047