Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Problematic substance use affects approximately 11% of Canadian youth and young adults (aged 15 to 24) and is particularly common in individuals with a history of childhood adversity (CA; i.e., trauma, maltreatment and stress that occurs before the age of 18). Exposure to CA confers risk for poor stress management and stress-related outcomes. The development of problematic substance use within this population may be largely influenced by an individual's appraisal of a stressful event as intolerable and subsequent use of ineffective, maladaptive coping strategies (e.g., efforts to escape or avoid stressful situation). The present study will determine the extent to which CA is associated with substance use and be the first to identify the mediating roles of stress and coping on the relationship between CA and substance use. This study will test the hypothesis that greater perceived stress and use of maladaptive coping strategies will mediate the relationship between CA and substance use in university students during a stressful period in their lives. Simple linear regression analysis will examine associations between CA and perceived stress, coping strategies, and substance variables. The outlined hypothesis will be tested using a serial mediation model as modeled by Hayes (2017). Furthermore, sex, gender and age will be controlled in all analysis. Stress is unavoidable but manageable given the right tools. Given that problematic substance use is associated with poorer outcomes in daily, academic and social domains, this study will help guide interventions that remediate maladaptive coping strategies to mitigate the onset of distress and subsequent substance use and equip individuals with the capacity and tools to deal with stress in a health and effective manner.