The national adverse childhood experience study outlines ten different experiences children can be exposed to in their homes: physical, emotional or sexual abuse, physical or emotional neglect, mental illness, an incarcerated family member, witnessing substance abuse or domestic violence, and divorce.
Nationwide, about 60 percent of children experience at least one type of adverse experience. In Shasta County, however, 84 percent experience at least one. About 40 percent have experienced four or more, compared to 15 percent nationwide.
Officials say children learn behavior early on and will often mimic their parents’ patterns in later life. Children who experience any of these are at greater risk of developing a self-destructive behavior such as alcoholism or drug abuse, and are more likely to have physical or emotional health problems, often tied to a coping mechanism. Those who experience four or more are between 4 to 12 times more likely to develop alcoholism, substance abuse, depression or try to kill themselves.
[For more of this story, written by Katie Gillespie, go to http://www.redding.com/news/local-news/agencies-work-with-families-to-break-the-cycle-of-troubled-childhoods_37855673]
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