Editor's note: Dr. Harise Stein at Stanford University edits a web site — abuseresearch.info — that focuses on the health effects of abuse, and includes research articles on ACEs. Every month, she's posting the summaries of the abstracts and links to research articles that address only ACEs science. Thank you, Harise!! -- Jane Stevens]
Brown SM, Bender K, Orsi R, McCrae JS, Phillips JD, Rienks S.
Adverse childhood experiences and their relationship to complex health profiles among child welfare-involved children: A classification and regression tree analysis. Health Serv Res. 2019 Aug;54(4):902-911. PMID: 31074505
Using data from a large national survey, “for children aged 2-5 years, results suggest that caregiver mental illness is a key adverse experience associated with complex health concerns.”
Sumner JA, Colich NL, Uddin M, Armstrong D, McLaughlin KA.
Early Experiences of Threat, but Not Deprivation, Are Associated With Accelerated Biological Aging in Children and Adolescents. Biol Psychiatry. 2019 Feb 1;85(3):268-278. PMID: 30391001
For 247 maltreated children aged 8-16 years, exposure to threat-related adversity, such as violence, was associated with accelerated DNA aging and advanced pubertal stage, but exposure to deprivation such as neglect or food insecurity was associated with delayed pubertal stage but not advanced DNA aging.
Short AK, Baram TZ.
Early-life adversity and neurological disease. Nat Rev Neurol. 2019 Nov;15(11):657-669. PMID: 31530940
“Our notions of the nature of early-life adversity are in flux. Beyond poverty, abuse and neglect, unpredictable and chaotic parental and environmental signals to the developing infant are emerging as important contributors to early-life adversity. These factors do not necessarily coexist with other types of adversity, and could help to explain a substantial portion of the variance in cognitive outcomes during childhood.”
Su Y, D'Arcy C, Yuan S, Meng X.
How does childhood maltreatment influence ensuing cognitive functioning among people with the exposure of childhood maltreatment? A systematic review of prospective cohort studies. J Affect Disord. 2019 Jun 1;252:278-293. PMID: 30991256
“Childhood maltreatment is considered as one of the most consistent factors related to later life cognitive dysfunction.” This article analyses “cognitive development, memory, academic achievement, literacy/verbal comprehension, intelligence, executive function, processing speed, perceptional reasoning, and non-verbal reasoning among children exposed to abuse, neglect or domestic violence either individually or combined.”
Iqbal AM, Kumar S, Hansen J, Heyrman M, Spee R, Lteif A.
Association of Adverse Childhood Experiences with Glycemic Control and Lipids in Children with Type 1 Diabetes. Children (Basel). 2020 Jan 18;7(1). pii: E8. PMID: 31963630
Of 104 children/adolescents with Type I diabetes (childhood onset) and their parents, 27.9% of children and 49.0% of parents had at least one ACE. Children who had 3 or more ACEs, or whose parents had 4 or more ACEs, were at significantly higher risk of poor glucose control (higher HbA1C levels).
Miller TR, Waehrer GM, Oh DL, et. al.
Adult health burden and costs in California during 2013 associated with prior adverse childhood experiences. PLoS One. 2020 Jan 28;15(1):e0228019. PMID: 31990957
Using 2013 data for California and analyzing five ACEs-linked conditions (asthma, arthritis, COPD, depression, and cardiovascular disease) and three health risk factors (lifetime smoking, heavy drinking, and obesity), estimates were created for ACEs-associated fractions of disease risk for people aged 18+. “Among adults in California, 61% reported ACEs. Those ACEs were associated with $10.5 billion in excess personal healthcare spending during 2013, and 434,000 DALYs [disability-adjusted-life-years] valued at approximately $102 billion dollars …Estimates of the costs of childhood adversity are far greater than previously understood and provide a fiscal rationale for prevention efforts.”
Loxton D, Townsend N, Dolja-Gore X, Forder P, Coles J.
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Healthcare Costs in Adult Life. J Child Sex Abus. 2019 Jul;28(5):511-525. PMID: 30285583
“The current study has demonstrated that all forms of childhood adversity involve higher healthcare costs than the absence of such adversities among a broadly representative sample of Australian adult women over the first 20 years of adult life.”
Maunder RG, Tannenbaum DW, Permaul JA, et. al.
The prevalence and clinical correlates of adverse childhood experiences in a cross-sectional study of primary care patients with cardiometabolic disease or risk factors. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2019 Dec 19;19(1):304. PMID: 31881981
For 387 Canadian adult primary care patients with cardiometabolic disease, after controlling for multiple variables, number of ACEs was associated with increased psychological distress, decreased quality of life, drinking alcohol most days, and smoking. ”Greater ACE exposure was associated with less likelihood of selecting diet or physical activity as a behavior change goal.”
Ben Salah A, Lemieux A, Mlouki I, et. al.
Impact of social violence and childhood adversities on pregnancy outcomes: a longitudinal study in Tunisia. J Glob Health. 2019 Dec;9(2):020435. PMID: 31893035
Of 593 Tunisian women, after controlling for high risk pregnancies, smoking, and intra-familial ACEs, the risk of premature birth was significantly associated with exposure to witnessing community violence. “Social ACEs may have a long-term effect on maternal reproductive health.”
Hovdestad WE, Shields M, Shaw A, Tonmyr L.
Childhood maltreatment as a risk factor for cancer: findings from a population-based survey of Canadian adults. BMC Cancer. 2020 Jan 29;20(1):70. PMID: 31996257
From a survey of over 20,000 Canadian adult men and women, childhood maltreatment was associated with adult cancer diagnosis in women but not men. For women, even after controlling for multiple factors, there was a dose-response relationship between any type of cancer and childhood physical abuse as well as childhood exposure to IPV.
Müller LE, Bertsch K, Bülau K, Herpertz SC, Buchheim A.
Emotional neglect in childhood shapes social dysfunctioning in adults by influencing the oxytocin and the attachment system: Results from a population-based study. Int J Psychophysiol. 2019 Feb;136:73-80. PMID: 29859994
From a population-based sample of 121 German men and women, a history of childhood emotional neglect was associated with lower plasma oxytocin levels, which was in turn related to elevated fear and avoidance of social situations.
Isumi A, Fujiwara T, Kato H, et. al.
Assessment of Additional Medical Costs Among Older Adults in Japan With a History of Childhood Maltreatment. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Jan 3;3(1):e1918681. PMID: 31913494
For 978 Japanese older adults with mean age 70.6 years, mean additional annual medical costs of those who experienced any childhood maltreatment vs. those who did not was $1255. For just childhood neglect the annual increased cost was $1484.
Gomis-Pomares A, Villanueva L.
The effect of adverse childhood experiences on deviant and altruistic behavior during emerging adulthood. Psicothema. 2020 Feb;32(1):33-39. PMID: 31954413
Of 490 young Spanish adults aged 18-20, cumulative ACEs, and especially physical abuse, was associated with increased risk of deviant behavior (rule-breaking and illegal behaviors). Emotional neglect was associated with lack of altruistic behaviors.
Schnarrs PW, Stone AL, Salcido R Jr, et. al.
Differences in adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and quality of physical and mental health between transgender and cisgender sexual minorities. J Psychiatr Res. 2019 Dec;119:1-6. PMID: 31518909
Of 477 community-based sexual and gender minorities, “transgender participants reported emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect more frequently compared to cisgender LGB people…neglect is a common experience among LGB/TGN and needs to be assessed along with other ACE domains. Further, there may exist unique adverse experiences among this population during childhood resulting from social stigma. Future research should identify and quantify these experiences.”
Mathews B, Pacella R, Dunne MP, Simunovic M, Marston C.
Improving measurement of child abuse and neglect: A systematic review and analysis of national prevalence studies. PLoS One. 2020 Jan 28;15(1):e0227884. PMID: 31990913
Authors analyze methodologies and instruments used to measure child abuse, and make recommendations for national studies.
Williams PG, Lerner MA, et. al.
School Readiness. Pediatrics. 2019 Aug;144(2). pii: e20191766. PMID: 31331984
“Modifiable factors in a child's early experience can greatly affect that child's health and learning trajectories. Many children in the United States enter kindergarten with limitations in their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development that might have been significantly diminished or eliminated through early identification and attention to child and family needs. A strong correlation between social-emotional development and school and life success, combined with alarming rates of preschool expulsion, point toward the urgency of leveraging opportunities to support social-emotional development and address behavioral concerns early.”
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