
By Gaby Galvin
PEOPLE WHO EXPERIENCED trauma as children are more likely to suffer severe health consequences later in life, a new federal analysis shows.
Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, refer to potentially traumatic events experienced or witnessed during childhood, like violence, substance misuse and mental health problems in the home. Though public health experts say these events are an important upstream cause of major health and social struggles later in life, it’s been unclear just how substantially they impede American health overall.
In the first analysis of its kind, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the link between self-reported ACEs and 14 negative health conditions and socioeconomic factors, using 2015-2017 survey data for more than 144,000 adults from 25 states.
They found that 60.9% of adults reported at least one adverse childhood experience, while 15.6% reported four or more types. Such experiences were “significantly associated with poorer health outcomes, health risk behaviors, and socioeconomic challenges,” the study says, including depression, heavy drinking, smoking, lower educational attainment and unemployment.
Share This Post!
Understanding Childhood Trauma: Ways to Support Young People
By Boys & Girls Clubs of America For generations, tough childhood experiences have been swept under the rug by phrases like these. Oftentimes, the reason why is simple: many families simply did [...]
Addressing The Link Between Trauma And Addiction
By National Governors Association Many Americans have experienced traumatic events, toxic stress, and other types of adversity in childhood. However, repeated exposure to trauma and adversity in childhood predicts a variety [...]
The Health Benefits of Volunteerism
By Eric Burger It’s a simple fact that every nonprofit organization knows: volunteering makes you feel better. But did you know that the anecdotal stories about volunteering health benefits have been [...]
Checklist: Creating Safe Spaces for Youth
By Mental Health America Now more than ever, young people need an environment where they feel seen, heard, and valued. [...] Creating connection starts with you, so allow youth to get [...]
What is Childhood Trauma: Trauma Types
By The National Child Traumatic Stress Network When a child feels intensely threatened by an event he or she is involved in or witnesses, we call that event a trauma. There [...]
Racial Trauma
By Mental Health America Racial trauma, or race-based traumatic stress (RBTS), refers to the mental and emotional injury caused by encounters with racial bias and ethnic discrimination, racism, and hate crimes. Any [...]