Adverse Events in Childhood May Raise Health, Socioeconomic Risks in Adulthood

Astudy published this week in theMorbidity and Mortality Weekly Report adds to the growing body of evidence indicating that experiencing adverse events in childhood such as abuse or witnessing intimate partner violence increases the risk of numerous negative health and socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood.Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used data from more than 144,000 respondents who participated in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from 2015 to 2017. The BRFSS is an annual state-based telephone survey of adults in which participants report on their health behaviors and whether health care professionals had ever diagnosed them with a health condition. The researchers drew the data from 25 states that had added questions to the BRFSS to assess participants ’ exposure to eight types of adverse childhood experiences, including physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; household member substance misuse, incarceration, or mental illness; parental divorce; or witnessing intimate partner violence.Overall, 60.9% of participants had been exposed to at least one type of adverse childhood experience, and 15.6% had been exposed to four or more. The more types of adverse childhood experiences participants were exposed to, the more likely they were to engage in risky health behaviors or have chronic health conditions or socioeconomic challenges as adults. For example, participants who were exposed to four or more types of adverse childhood...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: abuse Adverse Childhood Experiences Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System depression drinking intimate partner violence Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report smoking substance misuse Source Type: research