Adverse childhood experiences, adult attachment and parenting styles in a population with addictive behaviors

Background: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are characterized by experiences of neglect and abuse (physical, sexual and emotional) and family dysfunction in children and adolescents, generating a pattern of insecure attachment. Research shows that adults who grew up in families where they experienced ACEs show high rates of psychopathology, addictive behaviors and dependencies (ABD) and physical illnesses. However, few studies have explored how the presence of ACEs and insecure attachment in adults can affect parenting skills, increasing the risks to children's mental and physical health and thus conferring a transgenerational effect of ACEs. 
Method: This is an exploratory and descriptive study, who use a quantitative methodology. It was investigated  the parenting styles, the adult attachment styles and the prevalence and types of adverse childhood experiences in a sample of 54 people under treatment of ABD, in a Portuguese ABD Treatment Center. It was applied in person a questionnaire composed of a Participant Characterization Questionnaire, the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (Portuguese version), the Adult Attachment Scale-R (Portuguese version), and the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (Portuguese version), and later inserted, by the researchers, into a Microsoft Forms created for this purpose. Univariate and bivariate descriptive analysis was carried out, and it was necessary, for some fields, to reclassify the respondents' responses so as to correspond to the quotation criteria for the areas under analysis.
Results:  Preliminary research findings show that there is a high prevalence of ACEs in in the population undergoing treatment for ABD (13% of individuals reported no type of ACEs, 31.4% reported 1 to 2 types of ACEs, and 55.6% reported 3 or more ACEs). Regarding the type of ACEs, 59.3% reported substance abuse in the family environment, 46.3% reported mental illness or suicide in the family, 38.9% emotional abuse, 38.9% physical abuse, 38. 9% emotional neglect and 22.2% sexual abuse. Regarding adult attachment, 44% of individuals showed a secure style and 56% insecure style, and of these, 54% revealed a scared-avoidant style, 33%  a disconnected-avoidant style and 13% showed a worried style. In the sample under study, the authoritative parenting style is the most prevalent (x̅ = 4.04, s = 0.57) followed by the permissive style (x̅ = 2.56; s = 0.81) and the authoritarian style (x̅ = 1.87; s = 0,51).
Conclusions: Insecure attachment in adults may be related to the high number of ACEs. It’s important to strengthen the therapeutic relationship with these individuals by promoting a secure attachment, in order to overcome ACEs. This way, conditions will be met to intervene in the treatment of ABD and stimulating healthier relationships with other adults and, in particular, with their children.