Associations between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Major Depressive Episode and Chronic Physical Health in Adolescents: Moderation of Race/Ethnicity

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Adverse Childhood Experiences and Health-Related Outcomes: A Scoping Review

Racial and ethnic differences have been observed across patterns of substance use and exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The goal of this review was to summarize the current evidence on ACE and health outcomes across racial and ethnic groups in the United States. A scoping review of the literature following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analysis for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) guideline was performed. Using predetermined search terms and parameters, an electronic database search of peer-reviewed literature between 1997 and 2022 was performed. Forty-five articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Thirteen articles focused on health behavior and education outcomes, fifteen reported on physical health outcomes, and eighteen reported on mental health outcomes. Relatively to mental health outcomes, race/ethnicity appeared to play a less significant role in the relationship between ACE and behavioral outcomes or physical health outcomes. There was stronger evidence that race/ethnicity may moderate relationships between ACE exposure and mental health outcomes. Across health behavior, physical health, and mental health domains, the evidence suggests that the relationship between ACE exposure and health outcomes is not uniform across different racial and ethnic groups. These findings highlight the need for future research to uncover how cultural, societal, and developmental factors interact to shape health in the context following exposure to childhood adversity.

Adverse adult experiences and health outcomes: Racial and ethnic differences in a low-income sample

Extending research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), this study aimed to investigate whether the prevalence of and outcomes associated with adverse adult experiences vary among racial and ethnic subgroups. Survey data were collected from 1566 low-income women in Wisconsin using the Adult Experiences Survey (AES). Ten major adult adversities were assessed, including items that reference an intimate partner or household member (e.g., physical or emotional abuse, substance use) along with other social and economic stressors such as homelessness and discrimination. Adverse adult experiences were highly prevalent overall, but even more so among non-Hispanic Whites than their Black and Hispanic counterparts. The results reinforce prior research on ACEs in low-income populations. Lending further credence to these findings, tests of measurement invariance indicated that the AES demonstrated acceptable configural and scalar invariance across racial and ethnic groups. As expected, greater exposure to adult adversity was significantly related to poorer physical and mental health. These associations manifested cross-sectionally and longitudinally for observed and latent measures of adult adversity-even after controlling for ACEs. Associations between adult adversity and health were not moderated by race/ethnicity. In sum, adverse adult experiences were unequally distributed across racial/ethnic groups, but the consequences associated with adversity appeared to be evenly dispersed.

Concurrent Childhood Experiences Impact Underage Substance Use

Adverse and advantageous childhood experiences (ACEs and counter-ACEs) during adolescence are understudied. This study examined how childhood experiences affect youth tobacco/alcohol use. Participants included 489 U.S. adolescents (baseline 10-13 years; 51% female) from the first five waves of the Flourishing Families Project. Results of the cross-lagged model showed ACEs were predictive of early tobacco use only. Counter-ACEs in wave two and wave three predicted, respectively, decreased tobacco and decreased alcohol use in the following wave. Counter-ACEs were also correlated with reduced alcohol and tobacco use in later waves. These findings indicate the salience of counter-ACEs over ACEs in persistent and late adolescent substance use, though ACEs may be important to consider to prevent very early initiation of tobacco.

Individual characteristics of physical and mental development and their connection with regular physical exercises when playing basketball

Basketball includes a wide range of physical actions with and without the ball, which puts forward certain requirements for motor fitness, moral, volitional and mental qualities, as well as creativity and decision-making skills in rapidly changing and often unforeseen circumstances. The scientific novelty is determined by the fact that in order to categorically define the term of "features of physical and mental development and their connection with regular physical exercise", the authors analysed the works of leading scientists on the theory and methods of physical education, grouped by the authors in accordance with the main concepts. The aim of the article is to study of the phenomenon of physical culture of the student's personality, namely, the targets of the modern system of physical education and the structure of personal physical culture of a person; the humanisation and democratisation of the system of physical education; the development of the concept of the theory of physical culture and its implementation in the conditions of reformation of higher education. The practical significance of the study is determined by the fact that the elements of basketball are included in the programmes of physical education of preschool children, in the curricula for physical culture of all degrees of general secondary education (primary, secondary, high school), in the programme for physical education of higher education institutions.

Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Resilience and Mental Health in a Hispanic Community

This study explores the relations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), mental health and resilience among Hispanic adults living in the United States - Mexico Border region. Numerous studies have investigated the negative impact of ACEs on adult mental health, but the concept of resilience as a protective factor for mental health in the Hispanic communities has limited consideration in ACE treatment interventions. The proposed study addresses this gap in knowledge by investigating relations between ACEs, resilience, and mental health. An online survey was administered to 221 university students to assess the relationship between ACEs, mental distress and resilience. Using hierarchical linear regression, three models were estimated. First, including demographics, second including ACEs and low resilience, followed by the interaction of ACEs and resilience. Analyses indicate that ACEs were associated with mental distress (B = 1.02, 95% CI 0.37 - 1.68, p < 0.01) and low resilience was associated with mental distress (B = 5.37, 95% CI 3.15 - 7.59, p < .01). The interaction between ACEs and low resilience was also related to mental distress (B = 1.32, 95% CI 0.17 - 2.47, p = 0.03), indicating that ACEs had a larger association with mental distress among respondents with low resilience. Findings highlight the importance of the direct association between resilience and mental distress, along with the moderating influence of resilience on the relation between ACEs and mental health. Interventions promoting resilience may be effective in reducing mental distress, especially among individuals with a history of ACEs.

Associations Between Child Maltreatment, Inflammation, and Comorbid Metabolic Syndrome to Depressed Mood in a Multiethnic Urban Population: The HELIUS Study

Background

Child maltreatment is a common negative experience and has potential long-lasting adverse consequences for mental and physical health, including increased risk for major depressive disorder (MDD) and metabolic syndrome. In addition, child maltreatment may increase the risk for comorbid physical health conditions to psychiatric conditions, with inflammation as an important mediator linking child maltreatment to poor adult health. However, it remains unresolved whether experiencing child maltreatment increases the risk for the development of comorbid metabolic syndrome to MDD. Therefore, we investigated whether child maltreatment increased the risk for comorbid metabolic syndrome to depressed mood. Subsequently, we examined whether C-reactive protein (CRP), as an inflammatory marker, mediated this association. In addition, we investigated whether effects differed between men and women.

Methods

Associations were examined within cross-sectional data from the multiethnic HELIUS study (N = 21,617). Adult residents of Amsterdam, Netherlands, self-reported on child maltreatment (distinct and total number of types experienced before the age of 16 years) as well as current depressed mood (PHQ-9 score ≥ 10), and underwent physical examination to assess metabolic syndrome. The CRP levels were assessed in N = 5,998 participants. Logistic and linear regressions were applied for binary and continuous outcomes, respectively. All analyses were adjusted for relevant demographic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle characteristics, including ethnicity.

Results

A higher number of maltreatment types as well as distinct types of emotional neglect, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse were significantly associated with a higher risk for current depressed mood. Child maltreatment was not significantly associated with the risk for metabolic syndrome in the whole cohort, nor within individuals with depressed mood. As child maltreatment was not significantly associated with the CRP levels, subsequent mediation analyses were not performed. No significant moderating effects by sex were observed.

Conclusion

In this multiethnic urban cohort, child maltreatment was associated with a higher risk for depressed mood. Contrary to our expectations, child maltreatment was not significantly associated with an increased risk for metabolic syndrome, neither in the whole cohort nor as a comorbid condition in individuals with depressed mood. As the data were cross-sectional and came from a non-clinical adult population, longitudinal perspectives in relation to various stages of the investigated conditions were needed with more comprehensive assessments of inflammatory markers.

Adverse childhood experiences and cognitive disability in the 2019 United States behavioral risk factor surveillance system

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Adverse childhood experiences are positively associated with cognitive disability.

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The associations varied significantly by race and ethnicity.

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Larger associations were observed among Hispanic respondents.

A growing number of studies have found associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adult well-being, with disparities between subpopulations. Limited research exists about the association between ACEs and cognitive disability, and variations by race and ethnicity. This study reports a cross-sectional analysis of 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data (n = 93 692) conducted in 2021. Logistic regression models examined the association between ACEs and cognitive disability (as defined by serious difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition) and whether the association varied by race and ethnicity, adjusting for demographics, (age, gender, marital status), socioeconomic factors (income and education), and perceived general health. Exposures to 1, 2, 3, and 4 or more ACEs were associated with elevated odds of cognitive disability; the association varied by race and ethnicity (p for interaction less than 0.05). In stratified analyses, ACEs were positively associated with cognitive disability among the American Indian/Alaskan Native group, though significant only among those reporting 4 ACEs or more (OR: 2.89; 95% CI 1.25, 6.66). A dose response was observed for Black, White and Hispanic groups though the association was larger among Hispanic respondents. The elevated odds of cognitive disability associated with ACEs warrant additional research to understand mechanisms underlying this relationship across racial and ethnic groups. Additionally, interventions to prevent cognitive disability may benefit from considering ACEs across all populations, particularly among those with highest prevalence.

Maternal adverse childhood experiences and postpartum depressive symptoms in young, low-income women

OBJECTIVES

Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as child maltreatment and family dysfunction, is highly prevalent. Previous research has shown an association between ACEs and adult depression. The aim of the current study was to expand the existing literature by testing the association between ACEs and postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms in an urban, ethnically diverse sample of women.

METHODS

Participants (N = 746; ages 18-47; mean age = 27.3) were recruited at a large, urban university medical center as part of the Longitudinal Infant and Family Environment (LIFE) study. The association between ACEs and PPD symptoms were tested via hierarchical linear regression models.

RESULTS

The majority of the participants (61%) reported experiencing at least one type of ACEs prior to age 18. ACEs were positively associated with PPD symptoms (β = .29, p < .001), controlling for maternal race/ethnicity, age, educational attainment, marital status, household income, and infant gender and birth order.

CONCLUSIONS

The results showed that exposure to ACEs was related to PPD symptoms among low-income women. Screenings for ACEs during prenatal checkups may help identify women at risk of depression and facilitate timely prevention and treatment efforts.