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!
What is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?
By The National Institute of Mental Health Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event. It is natural [...]
InBrief: Early Childhood Mental Health
Published by The Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University The science of child development shows that the foundation for sound mental health is built early in life, as early experiences—which include [...]
At the Intersection of Autism and Trauma
By Lauren Gravitz Having autism can sometimes mean enduring a litany of traumatic events, starting from a young age. “We know that about 70 percent of kids with autism will have [...]
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Autistic People
By Dr Freya Rumball The risk of PTSD is higher for groups who are more likely to be exposed to traumatic events. Research indicates that autistic people may be more likely [...]
Afraid to sleep indoors: Child survivors of deadly quake left traumatized
By Zeena Saifi, Dalya Al Masri and Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN For victims in Syria, the earthquake is another crisis amid a devastating 12-year civil war. Children and families who were recovering from PTSD and ongoing trauma from [...]
How to Cope with Vicarious Trauma Caused by Videos of Police Brutality
By Jade Hindmon, NPR Many of us spent recent days thinking about the life of a man we never met. And yet, particularly for Black people, know very well. Tyre Nichols [...]