Child Abuse
Schroeder K, Schuler BR, Kobulsky JM, Sarwer DB.
The association between adverse childhood experiences and childhood obesity: A systematic review. Obes Rev. 2021 Jul;22(7):e13204. PMID: 33506595
From a research review, “Findings suggest ACEs are associated with childhood obesity. Girls may be more sensitive to obesity-related effects of ACEs than boys, sexual abuse appears to have a greater effect on childhood obesity than other ACEs, and co-occurrence of multiple ACEs may be associated with greater childhood obesity risk. Further, the effect of ACEs on development of childhood obesity may take 2-5 years to manifest. Considered collectively, findings suggest a need for greater attention to ACEs in the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity.”
Adult manifestations of child abuse
Guarino H, Mateu-Gelabert P, Quinn K, et. al.
Adverse Childhood Experiences Predict Early Initiation of Opioid Use Behaviors. Front Sociol. 2021 May 13;6:620395. PMID: 3405596
From an online survey of 539 New York City young adults aged 18-29 who reported non-medical use of prescription opioids or heroin in the past 30 days, 89% reported at least one ACE, and 46% reported 4+ ACEs. “Increasing number of childhood traumas was associated with increased odds of earlier initiation of multiple opioid misuse behaviors.”
Cooke EM, Connolly EJ, Boisvert DL, Hayes BE.
A Systematic Review of the Biological Correlates and Consequences of Childhood Maltreatment and Adverse Childhood Experiences. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2021 Jun 9:15248380211021613. PMID: 34105421
Research review on the genetic, physiological, and neurological parameters of the effects of childhood maltreatment and ACEs.
Boynton-Jarrett R, Sponholtz TR, Rosenberg L, et. al.
Abuse in Childhood and Risk for Sleep Disruption in Adulthood in the Black Women's Health Study. Sleep Med. 2021 Jul;83:260-270. PMID: 34049046
Nearly 50% of almost 30,000 participants reported one or more measures of sleep disruption in adulthood. Higher severity of childhood physical or sexual abuse was associated with increased risk of sleep disruption and sleep apnea.
Cozier YC, Barbhaiya M, Castro-Webb N, et. al.
Association of Child Abuse and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Black Women During Adulthood. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2021 Jun;73(6):833-840. PMID: 32170851
From the Black Women’s Health Study, 101 cases of lupus were identified. “Both physical and sexual abuse during childhood were associated with statistically significant increases in SLE incidence.”
Roland N, Leon C, du Roscoat E, et. al.
Witnessing interparental violence in childhood and symptoms of depression in adulthood. Fam Pract. 2021 Jun 17;38(3):306-312. PMID: 33251547
From a large 2017 survey of French adults, and after adjusting for age, social variables, ACEs, and lifetime history of sexual assault, witnessing IPV in childhood was associated with adult symptoms in the past 12 months of depression (adjusted odds ratio 1.88), suicidal thoughts (1.97), and at least one lifetime suicidal attempt (2.39).
Cammack AL, Gazmararian JA, Suglia SF.
History of child maltreatment and excessive dietary and screen time behaviors in young adults: Results from a nationally representative study. Prev Med. 2020 Oct;139:106176. PMID: 32592792
Data from a national long-term study of 24-32 year olds showed that increasing exposure to various types of child maltreatment was associated with excessive dietary and screen time behaviors into adulthood, including sugar sweetened beverage consumption, fast food consumption, and television/video watching. This was especially true for certain groups, such as Latina females. “Extension of an addiction paradigm to include dietary and screen time behaviors may inform health risks and disease prevention efforts in child maltreatment survivors.”
Huang C, Yang M, Geng Y, et. al.
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mindfulness in Chinese College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Front Psychiatry. 2021 May 26;12:619128. PMID: 34122160
“Mindfulness has been found to have many positive effects on life outcomes, including mental health and educational achievement.” In this survey of 1871 Chinese college students, experiencing ACEs, especially emotional abuse and neglect, was negatively correlated with mindfulness.
Adolescents
Nascimento M, Dahllöf G, Cunha Soares F, et. al.
Self-reported symptoms of temporomandibular pain and jaw dysfunction in adolescents are associated with exposure to violence. J Oral Rehabil. 2021 Jul;48(7):765-773. PMID: 33774844
Of 2431 Brazilian adolescents, self-reported symptoms of jaw pain and jaw dysfunction were significantly associated with various forms of violence, including IPV and bullying, in a dose-response fashion.
O'Connor KE, Sullivan TN, Ross KM, Marshall KJ.
"Hurt people hurt people": Relations between adverse experiences and patterns of cyber and in-person aggression and victimization among urban adolescents. Aggress Behav. 2021 Jul;47(4):483-492. PMID: 33844292
From surveys of 265 adolescents mean age 14.3 years, 96% African American, residing in three urban high-burden communities, “the adolescents who reported the highest frequencies of aggressive behavior were also the most victimized and traumatized.”
Anto M, Jaffee S, Tietjen G, Mendizabal A, Szperka C.
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Frequent Headache by Adolescent Self-Report. Pediatr Neurol. 2021 Apr 16;121:51-55. PMID: 34147819
From a large national adolescent study, frequent headache was reported in 29.3%, and 45% reported one or more ACE exposures. For each increase in cumulative ACE score, odds of frequent headache increased by 1.22. The ACEs that individually showed an association with frequent headache were lack of maternal warmth (odds ratio 1.40), lack of paternal warmth (1.47), paternal alcoholism (1.21), suicide attempt of family member (1.51), and living in an unsafe neighborhood (1.22).
Andrade JL, Hong YR, Lee AM, et. al.
Adverse Childhood Experiences are Associated with Cardiometabolic Risk among Hispanic American Adolescents. J Pediatr. 2021 Jun 17:S0022-3476(21)00554-0. PMID: 34147498
For 133 healthy adolescents aged 15-21, 60.2% female, who self-identified as Hispanic and were born in the US, and after controlling for multiple variables, reporting 4+ ACEs (28.6%) was significantly associated with higher body mass index, body fat percentage, and elevated diastolic blood pressure, compared with reporting <4 ACEs.
LGBTQ Concerns
Suarez NA, Peitzmeier SM, Potter J, Samandur A, Reisner SL.
Preliminary findings for adverse childhood experiences and associations with negative physical and mental health and victimization in transmasculine adults. Child Abuse Negl. 2021 Jun 16;118:105161. PMID: 34146966
Of 131 transmasculine individuals, 90% reported at least 1 ACE, and 45% 4+ ACEs. 4+ ACEs were associated with increased risk for depression (5.3 times increased risk) suicidality (5.2), PTSD (6.0), IPV (5.3), and obesity (8.2). “ACEs are highly prevalent in this sample, and more attention is needed for research and intervention.”
Race/Cultural Concerns
Palusci VJ, Botash AS.
Race and Bias in Child Maltreatment Diagnosis and Reporting. Pediatrics. 2021 Jun 4:e2020049625. PMID: 34088760
Authors review data supporting biased reporting and management of child abuse. “Implicit and explicit biases are drivers of disproportionate reporting and investigation. Racial bias can be checked through personal reflection and training, input from a diverse multidisciplinary team, assistance from an objective screening process, and case review by using deductive reasoning methods, such as those provided by child abuse pediatric consultation.”
Tajima EA.
First, Do No Harm: From Diversity and Inclusion to Equity and Anti-racism in Interpersonal Violence Research and Scholarship. J Interpers Violence. 2021 Jun;36(11-12):4953-4987. PMID: 34107820
“The article discusses a range of factors to consider at each stage of the research process as researchers seek to be inclusive, responsive to diversity concerns, and seek equity…Recommendations are offered to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion when analyzing data, interpreting results, and writing up the study.”
Giano Z, Camplain RL, Camplain C, et. al.
Adverse Childhood Events in American Indian/Alaska Native Populations. Am J Prev Med. 2021 Feb;60(2):213-221. PMID: 33223364
Using data from 34 states 2009-2017, “The average ACE score among American Indians and Alaska Natives was 2.32, higher than those of individuals identifying as White (1.53), Black (1.66), and Hispanic (1.63). Female participants had a higher average ACE score than males (2.52 vs 2.12).”
Barajas-Gonzalez RG, Ayón C, Brabeck K, et. al.
An ecological expansion of the ACEs framework to include threat and deprivation associated with U.S. immigration policies and enforcement practices: An examination of the Latinx immigrant experience. Soc Sci Med. 2021 Jun 12;282:114126. PMID: 34146987
Authors recommend expanding the ACEs framework for children of immigrant Latinx parents to include direct experience of detention and deportation, threat of detention and deportation, and exposure to systemic marginalization and deprivation due to caregiver detention and deportation.
Providers
Molinaro ML, Evans M, Regnault TRH, de Vrijer B.
Translating developmental origins of health and disease in practice: health care providers' perspectives. J Dev Orig Health Dis. 2021 Jun;12(3):404-410. PMID: 32631476
23 Canadian health care providers from a variety of of health disciplines expressed excitement over the potential health benefits of “developmental origins of health and disease” (DOHaD) counselling, but also indicated barriers. “All health care providers expressed concerns on how and when to introduce the concept of DOHaD when counselling patients and called for the development of practice guidelines. Counselling on DOHaD needs to be framed in a way that is empowering, minimising the potential of coercion and guilt. More interaction and collaboration are needed between health care providers and researchers to identify strategies to support knowledge translation generated from DOHaD research into practice settings.”
Brown T, Mehta PK, Berman S, et. al
A Trauma-Informed Approach to the Medical History: Teaching Trauma-Informed Communication Skills to First-Year Medical and Dental Students.
MedEdPORTAL. 2021 Jun 7;17:11160. PMID: 34150993
“We present a model for teaching trauma-informed communication skills to first-year medical and dental students. The intervention significantly increased students' comfort level and self-reported clinical skills, and benefits persisted at 5 months.” More than one-third (34%) of respondents reported having received at least one disclosure of trauma from a patient within the first 5 months of medical school. Full materials
Mendel WE, Sperlich M, Fava NM.
"Is there anything else you would like me to know?": Applying a trauma-informed approach to the administration of the adverse childhood experiences questionnaire. J Community Psychol. 2021 Jul;49(5):1079-1099. PMID: 33792050
“Using data from a mixed-methods study of first-time mothers as means of illustration, this paper examines shortcomings of the ACE questionnaire. Participant responses revealed ambiguity with item structure, limited breadth of included events, and failure to capture the gravity of the experience. These shortcomings…call for the application of trauma-informed values, both in its content and administration. We apply the main tenets of a trauma-informed framework to the ACE questionnaire and make recommendations for its administration.”
Prevention
Tao J, He K, Xu J.
The mediating effect of self-compassion on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and depression.J Affect Disord. 2021 May 23;291:288-293. PMID: 34062396
For 4189 Chinese college students, depression was significantly positively correlated with each of the different types of childhood maltreatment, but the quality of self-compassion negatively impacted this correlation. Bledsoe M, Captanian A, Somji A.
Special Report from the CDC: Strengthening social connections to prevent suicide and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs): Actions and opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Safety Res. 2021 Jun;77:328-333. PMID: 34092325
“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, and at least half of the top 10 leading causes of death have been associated with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). A number of established risk factors for suicide and ACEs may have been exacerbated by the pandemic, including loneliness and the lack of connectedness…Local, city, and state government, community organizations, and public health and medical practitioners should consider the adaptation and development of existing and new programming, resources, and activities that support and strengthen social connection.”
Kenny MC, Helpingstine C, Long H.
College students' recollections of childhood sexual abuse prevention programs and their potential impact on reduction of sexual victimization. Child Abuse Negl. 2020 Jun;104:104486. PMID: 32294564
Of 1502 students from an ethnically and racially diverse university in the Southeast US, those who had not participated in a childhood sexual abuse prevention program were significantly more likely to be abused than those who did participate, regardless of the program or location, and those participating in US programs were significantly more likely to disclose abuse.
Yoon S, Howell K, Dillard R, et. al.
Resilience Following Child Maltreatment: Definitional Considerations and Developmental Variations. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2021 Jul;22(3):541-559. PMID: 31405362
Authors describe various definitions of resilience following child abuse, and the importance of different manifestations at various ages. Results of this review detailing the strategies for understanding, assessing, and promoting resilience within a developmental context could provide guidance for intervention services.
Researchers
Love G, Helgason AR, Kristjansson AL.
A single-item measure of childhood relationship quality and association with adult health and health behaviours. Scand J Public Health. 2021 Jun 19:14034948211022431. PMID: 34148442
From a national Icelandic survey, a one-question measure of the quality of childhood relationships with family and household members (scaled 0-10), correlated with 21 health and health behavior outcomes in adulthood, matching well with results from ACEs studies. “This may indicate that a one-dimensional relationships question is a useful substitute in surveys in which a traditional multi-question adverse childhood experiences scale cannot be accommodated.” “When you were growing up, during the first 18 years of your life, how was your relationship with your family and household members?”
Dolson RA, Morelen DM, Dodd JC, Clements AD.
Pocket ACE: Child sexual abuse survivors missed by the ACEs Study Questionnaire. Child Abuse Negl. 2021 Jul;117:105049. PMID: 33862525
From an online survey of 974 adult women, 13.45% reported childhood sexual abuse to an original ACE screening tool that specified that the sexual perpetrator was at least 5 years older. However, an additional 12.11% reported childhood sexual abuse when the age modifier was removed. Both groups reported the same degree of increased depression, physical symptoms and poorer subjective health.
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