Adverse Childhood Experiences in Mexico: Prevalence and Association with Sociodemographic Variables and Health Status

Background

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) refer to a semantic field of negative childhood events that, in conjunction with insufficient personal, family, or contextual coping resources, have the potential of becoming traumatic.

Objective

To assess the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and their association with sociodemographic variables and physical and mental illnesses in a Mexican sample.

Design

A cross-sectional design was used. The sample included 917 Mexican adults who responded to the Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ). Most of the participants were female (79.3%) with an average age of 37 years, a monthly income between 500 and 2,500 USD (59.2%), had completed university education (45.6%) and were married or in a common-law marriage (53.1%). Data was collected through Google Forms, and the link to the form was shared through electronic social networks.

Results

A total of 48.3% of the participants presented seven to nine types of ACEs. Among their responses, the most prevalent categories were emotional neglect (95.1%), family violence (83.3%), and emotional abuse (78.6%). A significant association was found between the number of ACEs and the mental illness diagnosis (x2(20) = 15.16; p<001). Women were found to report more experiences of sexual abuse (z = -6.62, p<. 001), whereas men reported more experiences of community violence (z= -4.27, p < .001) and collective violence (z = -3.94, p<.001).

Conclusions

The prevalence of ACEs in the Mexican population is high. However, men and women reported differences in certain types of ACEs. It was found that people with a diagnosis and family history of mental illnesses presented a higher number of ACE categories.

Clinical Hypnosis For Pain Reduction In Breast Cancer Mastectomy: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Surgical procedures for breast cancer treatment are commonly followed by pain. Clinical hypnosis has been shown to be effective in reducing pain during and after surgery, but most of the studies have used analogical scales, which only measure pain intensity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of clinical hypnosis on pain intensity and its interference in daily activities in patients before and after mastectomy. The patients were evaluated using the Brief Pain Inventory. Forty patients were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group and evaluated 5 times: 1) baseline, 2) after clinical hypnosis session, 3) before surgery, 4) 1 day after surgery, and 5) 1 week after the surgery (follow-up). The results showed that after surgery the hypnosis group had a statistically significant reduction in pain intensity, less interference of pain with daily activities, sleep and life enjoyment compared with a control group. Clinical hypnosis may be recommended as a complementary treatment procedure for postmastectomy pain reduction and improving the quality of life of these patients.

Clinical Hypnosis and Music In Breast Biopsy:A Randomized Clinical Trial

A randomized clinical study was conducted to evaluate the effects on anxiety, depression, stress and optimism levels of an audio-recorded clinical hypnosis intervention and a music session and compare them with a control group in women scheduled for breast biopsy. We analyzed the data of 170 patients with an average age of 47 years, who were randomly assigned to each of the groups. The psychosocial variables were measured in three moments: baseline, which corresponds to the period before the intervention with hypnosis, music or waiting in the room before biopsy; a second measurement after the interventions and a third measurement after the breast biopsy procedure was finished. The results showed a statistically significant reduction in the stress (p < .001, η²p = .06); pain, (p < .01, η²p = .04); anxiety, (p < .001, ƞ²p = .07) and depression, (p < .001, ƞ²p = .05) in hypnosis and music groups compared with the control group. Before biopsy, hypnosis decrease significantly pain and depression levels compared with music, but after biopsy there were no differences between both groups. It is recommended to use audio-recorded hypnosis and music interventions to reduce physical and emotional discomfort during the biopsy procedure and to improve the quality of life of patients with suspected breast cancer.

Breast Biopsy: The Effects of Hypnosis and Music

The authors evaluated the efficacies of audio-recorded hypnosis with background music and music without hypnosis in the reduction of emotional and physical disturbances in patients scheduled for breast biopsy in comparison with a control group. A total of 75 patients were randomly assigned to 3 different groups and evaluated at baseline and before and after breast biopsy using visual analog scales of stress, pain, depression, anxiety, fatigue, optimism, and general well-being. The results showed that, before breast biopsy, the music group presented less stress and anxiety, whereas the hypnosis with music group presented reduced stress, anxiety, and depression and increased optimism and general well-being. After the biopsy, the music group presented less anxiety and pain, whereas the hypnosis group showed less anxiety and increased optimism.