How Do Fathers Help? A Moderation Analysis of the Association between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Child Behavioral Health in Fragile Families

Early adverse childhood experiences and preschoolers' attentional regulation: A latent class analysis

BACKGROUND

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) profoundly disrupt preschoolers' attentional regulation development. Different patterns of ACEs may be associated with different attentional regulation outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

Drawing from developmental systems theory and attachment theory, this study aimed to identify distinct patterns of early ACEs at age three and examined the associations of these patterns with preschoolers' attentional regulation at age five.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

This study used the two waves of longitudinal data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 4457).

METHODS

First, this study applied latent class analysis (LCA) across nine indicators of ACEs at age three. Second, class membership was examined for associations with preschoolers' attentional regulation at age five.

RESULTS

LCA identified four latent classes of ACEs: separation (41.2 %), parental incarceration (33 %), family dysfunction (20.8 %), and child abuse (5 %). Children in the child abuse class exhibited lower levels of attentional regulation than those in the family dysfunction class (0.33 standard deviation difference, p < .01) or separation class (0.48 standard deviation difference, p < .001). Children in the parental incarceration class demonstrated lower levels of attentional regulation than those in the separation class (0.63 standard deviation difference, p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings provide implications for the need to prevent early child abuse and incorporate trauma-informed intervention programs to support preschoolers' attentional regulation during school-entry age.

Early learning difficulties, childhood stress, race, and risk of cognitive impairment among US adults over age 50: A cross-sectional analysis

Background and Aims

Most literature linking childhood factors to cognitive health outcomes has focused on educational attainment-defined as years of education attained. However, less has been studied about the other aspects of education, such as early learning problems, and stressful family environments. This study examined whether early learning problems and childhood stressors were associated with mid- and later life cognitive impairment among US adults, and if these associations varied by race.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) along with respondents' early educational experiences from the 2015 to 2017 Life History Mail Survey (N = 9703). Early learning problems were defined as having any of the following: scholastic problems (reading, writing, mathematics), speaking/language issues, and sensorimotor issues- hearing, vision, speech, and motor-coordination. Cognitive status was classified as three levels (normal, cognitively impaired not demented [CIND], and demented) using the HRS Langa-Weir algorithm. Multinomial logistic regression models using generalized logits, estimated relative risk ratios (RRRs), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) with adjustment for sociodemographic factors.

Results

Having at least one early learning problem was associated with increased risk of later life cognitive impairment (RRR: 1.75, 95% CI: 1.34-2.29 for dementia, RRR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.20-1.67 for CIND). Parental death before the age of 16 was associated with 17% higher risk of CIND in later life (RRR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.01-1.34). However, learning problem-related differences in risk of cognitive impairment were dependent on race (learning problems × race, p = 0.0001). In the demented group, Blacks were 2.7 times more likely to be demented (RRR: 2.66, 95% CI: 1.69-4.17) amongst older adults that experienced childhood learning problems.

Conclusions

Early life exposures predicted risk of cognitive impairment. Policies and interventions that enhance diagnosis of early learning problems and improve childhood social contexts are needed to promote healthy cognitive aging amongst Americans, regardless of race.

Sad, Sadder, Saddest: Recognition of Sad and Happy Emotional Intensity, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Depressive Symptoms in Preschoolers

Adverse childhood experiences (ACES) have repeatedly been associated with depression. The ability to differentiate emotional intensity is a protective factor for psychopathology and in the context of life stressors, poor negative emotion differentiation (ED) is associated with depressive symptoms. However, little is known about whether the ability to recognize negative emotional intensity, a theorized developmental prerequisite of ED, influences the relationship between ACES and depressive symptoms in early childhood. The current study examined the interactive effects of ACES, the ability to recognize emotional intensity and depressive symptoms in 249 preschoolers enriched for depression. Findings demonstrated that when experiencing ACES, sad (not happy) emotion recognition was associated with elevated depressive symptoms. Specifically, when facing multiple ACEs, preschoolers with poor and moderate ability to recognize sad emotional intensity exhibited elevated depressive symptoms. Findings demonstrate that when experiencing elevated ACES, sad emotion recognition may be a protective factor for depression in early childhood.

Adversity and child body mass index in Fragile Families over 15 years: Do type and timing matter?

Background

Weight status has been linked to adverse childhood experiences. Existing research, however, is limited to unidimensional assessments of cumulative risk and does not account for the complex nature of adversity experienced by children in high-risk settings. We fill existing gaps by assessing how four subtypes of adversity across two primary dimensions of threat and deprivation-based adversity are associated with changes in body mass index (BMI) across child ages 3 through 15 years.

Method

U.S. mothers and fathers (n = 2412) in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study were interviewed when children were born, and again at ages 1, 3, 5, 9, and 15 years. Independent variables include interpersonal (e.g., domestic violence), family (e.g., mental health), economic (e.g., housing insecurity), and community (e.g., witness/victim of violence) adversity from ages 1 through 9 years. Path analysis regressed changes in BMIz from ages 3 through 15 on past adversity exposures.

Results

Increased interpersonal and community adversity subtypes from ages 3 to 5 were associated with decreased BMIz from ages 5–9 years. Increased economic adversity from age 3 to 5 was associated with increased BMIz from ages 5 to 9, adjusted for mother age, race, and education.

Conclusion

Findings highlight the differential influence of past adversity type and timing on child BMI. Interpersonal and community adversity were associated with decreased BMIz, and economic adversity with increased BMIz. Differences in directionality of associations suggest research should capture multiple dimensions of adversity in early childhood and possible positive and negative trends in effects on child weight as children grow from early to mid-childhood.

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We found positive and negative trends in BMIz, depending on adversity type.

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Interpersonal and community adversity types were associated with decrease BMIz.

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Economic adversity was associated with increased BMIz.

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BMIz from ages 5 to 9 was sensitive to adversity exposure from ages 3–5 years.