scholarly journals Assessing the Foundational Studies on Adverse Childhood Experiences

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 435-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitra Hartas
Keyword(s):  
Child Development ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Adult Health ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Foundational Research ◽  
The Uk

This article critically reviews the foundational studies carried out by Felitti in the US and Bellis in the UK and their colleagues examining the relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and adult health and morbidity. These studies have paved the way for much research on childhood adversity and its impact on child development and brain functioning at a family level. ACEs have gained traction in the UK in terms of policy targeting dysfunctional families through early intervention to stop the intergenerational effects of adverse childhood experiences. This article questions the foundational research that argues for family-level, parent-based intervention, especially in light of substantial evidence about the biological embedding of poverty and the direct links between disadvantage and child development. It also hopes to raise awareness about the contested nature of ACEs and their growing influence on family policy.

Adverse Childhood Experiences, Mental Health, and Risk Behaviors Among Men in the Solomon Islands

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 582-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paraniala Silas C. Lui ◽  
Michael P. Dunne ◽  
Philip Baker ◽  
Verzilyn Isom
Keyword(s):  
Risk Behaviors ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Risk Behaviors ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Adult Health ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Adverse Childhood

Compared with many parts of the world, there has been little research in Pacific Island nations into the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on adult health. This is a significant gap for local evidence-based child protection. We describe findings from a survey of 400 men aged 18 to 70 years recruited from randomly sampled households in Honiara city, Solomon Islands. Most men reported multiple adversities during childhood (80.7% 3 or more; 46% 5 or more), such as exposure to community and domestic violence, bullying, physical maltreatment, and sexual abuse. Men with multiple ACEs had significantly lower well-being and more psychological distress, recent stressful life events, and health risk behaviors. This study reports the first observation that betel quid chewing increased as a function of multiple ACEs. In comparison with recent East Asian studies, the Solomon Islands data suggest that the collective geographic category of “Asia-Pacific” masks significant intraregional differences in childhood adversities.

scholarly journals All the ACEs: A Chaotic Concept for Family Policy and Decision-Making?

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue White ◽  
Rosalind Edwards ◽  
Val Gillies ◽  
David Wastell
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Parental Control ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Definitive Evidence ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
Parenting Behaviours

This article will consider Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) as a chaotic concept that prioritises risk and obscures the material and social conditions of the lives of its objects. It will show how the various definitions of ACEs offer no cohesive body of definitive evidence and measurement, and lead to a great deal of over-claiming. It discusses how ACEs have found their time and place, locating a variety of social ills within the child’s home, family and parenting behaviours. It argues that because ACEs are confined to intra-familial circumstances, and largely to narrow parent-child relations, issues outside of parental control are not addressed. It concludes that ACEs form a poor body of evidence for family policy and decision-making about child protection and that different and less stigmatising solutions are hiding in plain sight.

scholarly journals 94 Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and child development at 5 years

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. e36-e36
Author(s):  
Erin Hetherington ◽  
Sheila McDonal ◽  
Suzanne Tough
Keyword(s):  
Child Development ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Adverse Childhood

scholarly journals Adverse childhood experiences and poor birth outcomes in a diverse, low-income sample

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua P. Mersky ◽  
ChienTi Plummer Lee
Keyword(s):  
Preterm Birth ◽  
Birth Outcomes ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Pregnancy Loss ◽  
Low Birthweight ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Risk Models ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Adverse Childhood

Abstract Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are associated with an array of health consequences in later life, but few studies have examined the effects of ACEs on women’s birth outcomes. Methods We analyzed data gathered from a sample of 1848 low-income women who received services from home visiting programs in Wisconsin. Archival program records from a public health database were used to create three birth outcomes reflecting each participant’s reproductive health history: any pregnancy loss; any preterm birth; any low birthweight. Multivariate logistic regressions were performed to test the linear and non-linear effects of ACEs on birth outcomes, controlling for age, race/ethnicity, and education. Results Descriptive analyses showed that 84.4% of women had at least one ACE, and that 68.2% reported multiple ACEs. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that cumulative ACE scores were associated with an increased likelihood of pregnancy loss (OR = 1.12; 95% CI = 1.08–1.17), preterm birth (OR = 1.07; 95% CI = 1.01–1.12), and low birthweight (OR = 1.08; 95% CI = 1.03–1.15). Additional analyses revealed that the ACE-birthweight association deviated from a linear, dose-response pattern. Conclusions Findings confirmed that high levels of childhood adversity are associated with poor birth outcomes. Alongside additive risk models, future ACE research should test interactive risk models and causal mechanisms through which childhood adversity compromises reproductive health.

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