Childhood adversity, mental health, and the perpetration of physical violence in the adult intimate relationships of women prisoners: A life course approach

This study contributes to the literature on the long-term effects of childhood disadvantage on mental health by estimating the association between patterns of cumulative childhood adversity on trajectories of psychological distress in adulthood. There is little research that investigates how compositional variations in the accumulation of childhood adversity may initiate distinct processes of disadvantage and differentially shape trajectories of psychological distress across the adult life course. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics’ Childhood Retrospective Circumstance Study and latent class analysis, we first identify distinct classes representing varied histories of exposure to childhood adversities using 25 indicators of adversity across multiple childhood domains. Next, the latent classes are included as predictors of trajectories of psychological distress in adulthood. The results demonstrate that patterns of experiences of childhood adversity are associated with higher levels of adult psychological distress that persists, and in some cases worsens, in adulthood, contributing to disparities in mental health across the life course. Key messages <ul><li>Cumulative adversity during childhood has an enduring influence on adult psychological distress.</li> <li>Childhood adversities of various types and severities tend to co-occur, which is important for measures of cumulative childhood adversity to consider.</li> <li>Childhood adversity increases adult psychological distress, contributing to disparities in mental health across the life course.</li></ul>

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Native American and Non-Native American Women Prisoners, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and the Perpetration of Physical Violence in Adult Intimate Relationships

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260519897328 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 088626051989732 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Melissa S. Jones ◽

Meredith G. F. Worthen ◽

Susan F. Sharp ◽

David A. McLeod

Keyword(s):

Native American ◽

Childhood Abuse ◽

Intimate Relationships ◽

Justice System ◽

Physical Violence ◽

Women Prisoners ◽

Native American Women ◽

Childhood Experiences ◽

American Women ◽

Adverse Childhood

Native American women are at an especially high risk of lifetime violence, including childhood abuse, intimate partner violence (IPV), and sexual assault, and are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Yet few studies have examined how the long-term effects of child maltreatment and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect Native American women prisoners’ perpetration of physical violence in adult intimate relationships. This is surprising because ample research illustrates that childhood adverse events, particularly childhood abuse and neglect, have far-reaching effects across the life course and that these experiences are especially apparent in the lives of women involved in the criminal justice system. Using data from a stratified random sample of Native American ( n = 92) and non-Native American ( n = 264) women prisoners in Oklahoma, we explore the relationships between individual, cumulative, and clusters of ACEs as they relate to the use of physical violence in adult intimate relationships. Utilizing a feminist life course theoretical framework, our findings indicate that ACEs are not only critical to understanding adult IPV but also that the mechanisms and processes underlying the relationships between ACEs and the perpetration of physical violence in adult intimate relationships differ for Native American and non-Native American women. The findings of the current study demonstrate that it is imperative that prison programming includes trauma-informed and trauma-specific interventions targeting Native Americans.

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Epidemiological issues in mental health–substance use: a case for a life course approach to chronic disease epidemiology

Developing Services in Mental Health–Substance Use ◽

10.1201/b21790-3 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 25-50

Author(s):

Alexander Baldacchino ◽

Ilana B Crome

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Substance Use ◽

Chronic Disease ◽

Life Course ◽

Chronic Disease Epidemiology ◽

Disease Epidemiology ◽

Life Course Approach

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Alisoun Milne. Mental Health in Later Life: Taking a Life Course Approach. Bristol, UK: Policy Press, 2020.

Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement ◽

10.1017/s0714980820000483 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-2

Author(s):

Patricia L. Ebert

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Life Course ◽

Later Life ◽

Life Course Approach

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The Long-Term Impact of Childhood Disability on Mental Health in Mid- to Late-Adulthood

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.3122 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 863-863

Author(s):

Jessica West

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Life Course ◽

Transition To Adulthood ◽

Childhood Adversity ◽

Adult Health ◽

Childhood Disability ◽

Family Status ◽

Research Attention ◽

The Impact

Abstract For decades, life course and stress process scholars have documented that negative, stressful experiences in childhood have consequences for health across the life course. One aspect of the childhood adversity that deserves more research attention is childhood disability. Children with disabilities experience higher levels of psychological distress compared to their peers and having a disability can negatively impact traditional markers of the transition to adulthood (e.g., education, employment, family status). At present, there is limited evidence regarding the impact of childhood disability on mental health over multiple years of adulthood. This study applies random effects models to nationally representative data from five waves (2008-2016) of the Health and Retirement Study (n=15,380; n=590 with a childhood disability), to examine how experiencing disability before the age of 16 shapes depressive symptoms over multiple years of adulthood. Given known gender differences in mental health, the models are stratified by gender to examine how the association between childhood disability and adult mental health varies by gender. Preliminary results suggest that experiencing a childhood disability is associated with different patterns of depressive symptoms in adulthood. Men who experienced childhood disability report more depressive symptoms in adulthood, net of sociodemographic, adult health, and childhood disadvantage covariates. Women who experienced childhood disability report more depressive symptoms in adulthood, net of all covariates except for childhood depression. Next steps are to conduct age-based growth curve models using Stata’s mixed function to estimate whether childhood disability influences baseline and growth of depressive symptoms in adulthood.

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