Animal cruelty as an indicator of family trauma: Using adverse childhood experiences to look beyond child abuse and domestic violence

RESUMO O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar e descrever os instrumentos mais frequentemente utilizados nas pesquisas epidemiológicas para a avaliação das Experiências Adversas na Infância, nos últimos dez anos. Trata-se de uma revisão da literatura, cujos critérios de inclusão foram artigos disponíveis na íntegra, nos idiomas inglês, espanhol e português, publicados e indexados nas bases de dados Medline e Lilacs, que citassem no resumo os instrumentos de avaliação utilizados nos estudos. Foram analisados 6 dos 38 instrumentos identificados nos 253 artigos selecionados para análise. Os instrumentos mais citados foram: 1) Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, 2) Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse, 3) Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire, 4) Child Abuse and Trauma Scale, 5) Early Trauma Inventory Self Report e 6) Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire. Os instrumentos descritos diferiram quanto às propriedades psicométricas, à idade para aplicação e à quantidade de Experiências Adversas na Infância avaliadas. Predominaram estudos publicados em periódicos internacionais na língua inglesa. Três instrumentos apresentam versão em português vigente no Brasil, sendo que um deles considera somente a avaliação de aspectos específicos de Experiências Adversas na Infância, enquanto que os outros dois avaliam, também, outras experiências traumáticas.

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Risk-Taking Propensity and Sensation Seeking in Survivors of Adverse Childhood Experiences

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260519876035 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 088626051987603 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sara Babad ◽

Amanda Zwilling ◽

Kaitlin Walsh Carson ◽

Victoria Fairchild ◽

Shanna Razak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Domestic Violence ◽

Family Member ◽

Emerging Adults ◽

Risk Taking ◽

Mentally Ill ◽

Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽

Sensation Seeking ◽

Growing Up ◽

Childhood Experiences ◽

Adverse Childhood

Risk-taking propensity and sensation seeking are developmentally meaningful traits for emerging adults, individuals ages 18 to 25 years. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) of childhood abuse and neglect, exposure to domestic violence, residing with a substance abusing or mentally ill caregiver, and growing up with an incarcerated family member negatively impact the well-being of emerging adults. However, the specific association between ACEs and risk-taking propensity and sensation seeking has not been previously examined in this age group. This study aims to determine whether ACEs are individually or cumulatively related to risk-taking propensity (assessed by the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Scale) and sensation seeking (assessed by the Behavior Inhibition System/Behavior Approach System Scales) in a diverse sample of undergraduates, n = 436; Mage = 19.73 years ( SD = 1.83 years); 67% female; 22% Hispanic. Multivariate ordinary least squares regressions were run to examine the association between ACEs and risk-taking propensity and sensation seeking. Individually, emotional abuse predicted greater inhibition ( B = .28, p < .001), growing up with a mentally ill family member ( B = –.12, p < .05) and emotional neglect ( B = –.13, p < .05) predicted reduced motivation to pursue rewarding cues, and emotional neglect ( B = –.12, p < .05) and witnessing domestic violence ( B = –.10, p < .05) predicted less reward responsiveness. No cumulative effects were found. ACEs related to environmental instability may have a unique impact on sensation seeking domains in emerging adults. Clarifying the role of sensation seeking in emerging adults can contribute to better understanding of risk and resilience factors in this vulnerable population.

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Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and cardiovascular development from childhood to early adulthood: study protocol of the Niagara Longitudinal Heart Study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030339 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. e030339 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Terrance J Wade ◽

Deborah D O’Leary ◽

Kylie S Dempster ◽

Adam J MacNeil ◽

Danielle S Molnar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Child Abuse ◽

Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽

Early Adulthood ◽

Left Ventricular ◽

Childhood Experiences ◽

Follow Up Study ◽

Household Dysfunction ◽

Heart Study ◽

Adverse Childhood

IntroductionRecent reviews have found substantial links between a toxic childhood environment including child abuse and severe household dysfunction and adult cardiovascular disease (CVD). Collectively referred to as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), this toxic environment is prevalent among children, with recent Canadian estimates of child abuse at 27%–32%, and severe household dysfunction at 49%. Based on these prevalence rates, the potential effect of ACEs on CVD is more significant than previously thought. Yet, how ACEs amplify the risk for later CVD remains unclear. Lifestyle risk factors only partially account for this connection, instead directing attention to the interaction between psychosocial factors and physiological mechanisms such as inflammation. The Niagara Longitudinal Heart Study (NLHS) examines how ACEs influence cardiovascular health (CVH) from childhood to early adulthood. Integrating the stress process and biological embedding models, this study examines how psychosocial and physiological factors in addition to lifestyle factors explain the relationship between ACEs and CVH.MethodsThis follow-up study combines three baseline studies from 2007 to 2012 that collected CVH measures including child blood pressure, heart rate, left ventricular structure and function, arterial stiffness indices and baroreflex sensitivity on 564 children. Baseline data also include anthropometric, biological, lifestyle, behavioural, and psychosocial measures that varied across primary studies. Now over 18 years of age, we will recruit and retest as many participants from the baseline studies as possible collecting data on ACEs, CVH, anthropometric, lifestyle and psychosocial measures as well as blood, saliva and hair for physiological biostress markers.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval has been received for the NLHS follow-up. Written consent to participate in the follow-up study is obtained from each participant. Results testing all proposed hypotheses will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

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Prevalence and correlates of adverse childhood experiences among adolescents living with HIV-AIDS in Lagos, Nigeria

Babcock University Medical Journal (BUMJ) ◽

10.38029/bumj.v2i1.3 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 18-28

Author(s):

S Adeyemo ◽

I Adeosun ◽

O Ogun ◽

A Adegbohun

Keyword(s):

Child Abuse ◽

Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽

Previous History ◽

University Teaching ◽

Adverse Childhood Experience ◽

Childhood Experience ◽

Childhood Experiences ◽

Adverse Childhood ◽

Living With Hiv ◽

Hiv Aids

Objective: Adverse childhood experience is a known risk factor for risky behavior and negative mental health outcomes. There is dearth of information on adverse childhood experiences among adolescents living with HIV-AIDS in Nigeria. This study assessed the prevalence, pattern and correlates of adverse childhood experience among adolescents with HIV/AIDS attending two tertiary health facilities in Lagos, Nigeria.Method: Using a cross-sectional study design, 201 adolescents with HIV-AIDS attending out-patient clinics at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos and the Lagos state University Teaching Hospital completed the adverse childhood experience questionnaire (ACE) and a socio-demographic questionnaire. The data was analysed with SPSS version 20. Result: The mean age of the participants was 13.88 (± 2.53) years, and 61.7% were males. High levels of adverse childhood experiences ( AC E > 4 ) were reported by 28.4% of the participants. Nearly three quarters (73.6%) were victims of physical abuse, while 48.7% and 11.8% had been emotionally and sexually abused. There was statistically significant association between high levels of adverse experiences in childhood and occupational class of the father (p=0.022), previous history of hospitalisation (p=0.027) and having HIV positive siblings (p=0.009). Conclusion: There is a crucial need for interventions targeted towards prevention of physical, emotional and sexual child abuse, and other forms of adverse childhood experiences.HIV-AIDS, adverse childhood experiences, child abuse, adolescents

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Researching Adverse Childhood Experiences in a Domestic Violence service: The role of co-operative inquiry groups in practice development and change

Groupwork ◽

10.1921/gpwk.v30i1.1517 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 48-76

Author(s):

Sarah Morton ◽

Megan Curran ◽

Mary Barry O'Gorman

Keyword(s):

Domestic Violence ◽

Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽

Group Process ◽

Community Support ◽

Community Change ◽

Research Approach ◽

Childhood Experiences ◽

Action Research Approach ◽

Adverse Childhood ◽

Inquiry Groups

The long-term impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are of increasing interest to researchers and practitioners. While attention is being paid to the effectiveness of screening for ACEs to improve health and social outcomes, how to implement such practices has become key. The Irish study upon which this article is based used an action research approach to implement ACEs routine enquiry within a domestic violence service, while also utilising co-operative inquiry groups for practitioners within the organisation (n=10) and those working in associated fields of infant mental health, child protection and welfare and community support (n=7). This article documents the process of enacting the co-operative inquiry groups and outlines learning points, challenges and lessons. Drawing on Finlay’s (2002a, 2002b) theories on the variants of reflexivity in research processes, six themes emerged on the research process: insider and outsider status; the structure and approach to the groupwork process; participation in the group process; addressing fears; practice concerns; and motivations to act. We conclude with suggestions for effective co-operative inquiry processes and highlight the factors related to groupwork that may contribute to improvements in practice, organisational and community change.

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