Impacts of ACEs on adolescents

I’ve written before about research on adverse childhood experiences. Meeker, O’Connor, Kelly, Hodgeman, Scheel-Jones, & Berbary (2021) published "The impact of adverse childhood experiences on adolescent health risk indicators in a community sample" in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. They examined differences in self-reported nonsuicidal self-injury, suicidality, violence, and substance use between adolescents without self-reported history of ACEs, youth with one self-reported ACE, and youth with 2 or more self-reported ACEs in 1,532 adolescents. 

They conclude, “After controlling for age, gender, and race, youth with multiple ACEs reported 3 to 15 times the odds of a range of negative health experiences. . . . This study did not include youth in out of school placements or who were not present the day the survey was given, and thus represent youth who may benefit from universal prevention and intervention programs. Universal screening of ACEs and health-related outcomes suggests that reporting multiple ACEs is strongly related to a wide range of mental health, violence, and substance use histories.”

This study is helpful in having a large community sample and illustrating the impacts of ACEs on teens. It is a helpful reminder of the importance of asking about ACEs especially when nonsuicidal self-injury, suicidality, violence, or substance use is part of a referral.