The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, conducted a large-scale Adverse Childhood Experiences Study that showed childhood trauma had far-reaching effects.
"The study was looking at the relationship between different types of household dysfunction and household abuse and neglect and how they coordinated with health-risk behaviors and later, disease," said Jennifer Drake-Croft, associated director of The Family Center, which works with families to prevent child abuse. "The study was a game changer."
Over a period of time, 17,000 participants were given a survey that helped researchers find correlations between medical risks and dysfunction. Some of the "Adverse Childhood Experiences" or ACEs include child maltreatment, sexual abuse, family dysfunction such as having a parent with mental illness or one that is incarcerated, divorce, witnessing community violence, living in poverty, homelessness, bullying and death of a parent.
[For more of this story, written by Nancy De Gennaro, go to http://www.dnj.com/story/life/...-adulthood/75879480/]
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