[Editor's note: Dr. Harise Stein at Stanford University edits a web site -- abuseresearch.info -- that focuses on the health effects of abuse, and includes research articles on ACEs. Every month, she's posting the summaries of the abstracts and links to research articles that address only ACEs. Thank you, Harise!! -- Jane Stevens]
Bellis MA, Hardcastle K, Ford K, et. al.
Does continuous trusted adult support in childhood impart life-course resilience against adverse childhood experiences - a retrospective study on adult health-harming behaviours and mental well-being. BMC Psychiatry. 2017 Mar 23;17(1):110. PMID: 28335746
From a national British survey, ACEs adversely impacted mental and physical health throughout life, but the support or not of an adult “someone you trust in childhood” had a very significant effect on outcome.
Giovanelli A, Reynolds AJ, Mondi CF, Ou SR.
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adult Well-Being in a Low-income, Urban Cohort.
Pediatrics. 2016 Apr;137(4). pii:e20154016. PMID: 26966132
From a long term study of 1202 low-income Chicago individuals, those with 4 or more ACEs were only 2/3 as likely to graduate from high school, had 3.9 times increased risk of depression, 4.5 times health compromising behaviors, 3 .1 times juvenile or 2.8 times felony adult arrest, and were half as likely to hold a skilled job. “Effective and widely available preventive interventions are needed to counteract the long-term consequences of ACEs.”
Pinto Pereira SM, Li L, Power C.
Child Maltreatment and Adult Living Standards at 50 Years. Pediatrics. 2017 Jan;139(1). pii: e20161595. PMID: 27994115
Of 8076 British adults followed over time, and despite adjusting for early-life factors such as social class and parental education, there were long-term associations of childhood abuse and neglect with unfavorable outcomes in mid-adulthood across a range of important socioeconomic indicators such as long term sickness, employment, education, assets, and social mobility. Negative outcomes increased with multiple types of maltreatment.
Reid JA, Baglivio MT, Piquero AR, Greenwald MA, Epps N.
Human Trafficking of Minors and Childhood Adversity in Florida.
Am J Public Health. 2017 Feb;107(2):306-311. PMID: 27997232
For 913 juvenile-justice involved trafficked Florida youths compared to a control group, “ACE composite scores were higher and 6 ACEs indicative of child maltreatment were more prevalent among youths who had human trafficking abuse reports. Sexual abuse was the strongest predictor of human trafficking: the odds of human trafficking was 2.52 times greater for girls who experienced sexual abuse, and 8.21 times greater risk for boys who had histories of sexual abuse.”
Tink W, Tink JC, Turin TC, Kelly M.
Adverse Childhood Experiences: Survey of Resident Practice, Knowledge, and Attitude. Fam Med. 2017 Jan;49(1):7-13. PMID: 28166574
From a survey of 112 Canadian Family Medicine Residents, with a 97% response rate, only 2 residents screened for ACEs at the first patient visit. 90.2% responded to a question about personal abuse experiences in childhood or adulthood – 36.2% of female residents and 25.6% of male residents reported any trauma, and 33.3% of females and 27.3% of males reported trauma in more than two categories.
Freeman J.
The Child is the Father of the Man: Family Physicians' Screening for Adverse Childhood Experiences.
Fam Med. 2017 Jan;49(1):5-6.
Editorial for family medicine physicians: “It can be tempting to not ‘ask for trouble’ by inquiring about ACEs. We are increasingly recognizing that the social determinants of health, essentially a patient’s life experience, current and past, are a major cause of disease, and ACEs are certainly one. Medical care alone cannot ‘fix’ any of these, but we need to know about them, because even the simple act of acknowledgement can be an important first step in addressing them. Given the high prevalence of ACEs in both the general population and among ourselves, and the correlation they have with adult morbidity, we need to do a better job.”
Buric I, Farias M, Jong J, Mee C, Brazil IA.
What Is the Molecular Signature of Mind-Body Interventions? A Systematic Review of Gene Expression Changes Induced by Meditation and Related Practices. Front Immunol. 2017 Jun 16;8:670. PMID: 28670311
(Many lines of evidence connect forms of abuse – ACEs, IPV, sexual assault – with increased inflammation.) In a review of research on molecular changes in mind-body interventions (mindfulness, yoga, Tai-Chi, Qigong, breath regulation), “Overall, the studies indicate that these practices are associated with a downregulation of nuclear factor kappa B pathway; this is the opposite of the effects of chronic stress on gene expression and suggests that MBI practices may lead to a reduced risk of inflammation-related diseases.”
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