When it comes to ACEs, Cork appears to be indeed the capital of Ireland.
From Noel Baker in the great Irish Examiner newspaper, September 2017 :
Almost one-quarter of men and women aged in their 50s and 60s were found to have suffered an ‘adverse childhood experience’, with research showing higher odds of depressive symptoms later in life among that group.
A newly published study looked at baseline data from 2,047 men and women aged 50 to 69 in the north Cork town of Mitchelstown and found that 23.7% of participants reported at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE), categorised under three headings: abuse (emotional, physical and sexual abuse), neglect (emotional and physical neglect); and household dysfunction (parental separation/divorce, violence against mother, household substance abuse, household mental illness and incarceration of household member).
The data, dating from 2010/11, were from randomly selected patients attending the Livinghealth Clinic in Mitchelstown and asked questions regarding later life experiences of depressive symptoms.
It found that indications of major depressive symptoms “was significantly higher among participants who reported ACE compared with participants who did not” — 14.1% versus 6%.
The research also found that good social supports could help to “buffer” the effects of depression and that the prevalence of poor levels of social support was also higher among participants who reported ACEs — 19.6% versus 10.7%.
According to the research: “Participants who reported ACEs tended to be younger, separated/divorced, have GMS cover, reported long-term illness/disability and had attained tertiary education.” [ ..... ]
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