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The Lifelong Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Health

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Behavioral and Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 3685

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ângela Rosa Pinho Costa Maia

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Guest Editor

School of Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Interests: post traumatic stress; adverse experiences; childhood maltreatment: prevalence and impact; pathways from victimization to aggression; methodological Issues related to self-report of life experiences

Dr. Mariana Gonçalves

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor

School of Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Interests: adverse experiences; intersectionality; violence; trauma; vulnerable populations; trauma informed care; trauma focused interventions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACE) is a prevalent public health concern worldwide, resulting in extensive costs on both an individual and a societal level. The effects of trauma go far beyond its immediate psychological and physical effects. It can change biology and behavior throughout a person’s lifetime, significantly affecting interpersonal and intergenerational relationships. Exposure to trauma is particularly harmful when it occurs during childhood or adolescence, disrupting numerous aspects of cognitive, emotional, and social development, with long-term consequences for learning and memory, educational outcomes, emotional functioning, and social relationships, and resulting in an elevated risk of re-victimization, mental disorders, physical diseases, and criminal behaviors. The effects of traumatic exposure extend far beyond the symptoms of post-traumatic disorder (PTSD) and related disorders, with complex trauma assuming a high prevalence in persons that have experienced ACE. Research has also documented the relationships between exposure to traumatic events, impaired neurodevelopmental and immune systems responses and subsequent health risk behaviors resulting in chronic physical or behavioral health disorders. ACE are also prevalent in youth with delinquent behaviors and in incarcerated persons.

ACE do not solely occur at random; they can be influenced by individual characteristics, peer group relationships, community characteristics, and socio-political factors. At the individual level, for example, the likelihood of experiencing particular types of trauma varies by sex, age, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation, community and socio-political factors.

Dr. Ângela Rosa Pinho Costa Maia
Dr. Mariana Gonçalves
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

adverse childhood experiences
trauma
PTSD
complex trauma
psychological health
physical health
risk behaviors
emotional regulation
behavior regulation
delinquent behavior
criminal offense

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 626 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Positive and Adverse Experiences in Adolescence on Health and Wellbeing Outcomes in Early Adulthood

by Lynn Kemp, Emma Elcombe, Stacy Blythe, Rebekah Grace, Kathy Donohoe and Robert Sege

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21(9), 1147; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21091147 - 29 Aug 2024

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Abstract

This study evaluated the associations between positive and adverse experiences and environments in adolescence and health, education and employment outcomes in early adulthood. Data were extracted from the Longitudinal Studies of Australian Youth cohort that commenced in 2003. The items were conceptually mapped to Positive and Adverse Youth Experiences and environments (PYEs and AYEs) at 15, 16 and 17 years old and outcomes at 25 years old. The associations between PYEs, AYEs and general health, mental health, education and employment were examined, including testing whether PYEs mitigated the association between AYEs and outcomes. A higher number of AYEs was associated with poorer health, education, and employment outcomes. Conversely, a higher number of PYEs was correlated with positive outcomes. The participants with higher PYEs had significantly greater odds of better general and mental health outcomes, even after accounting for AYEs. This relationship was not observed for employment or education outcomes. Adolescence and the transition to adulthood are critical developmental stages. Reducing adverse experiences and environments and increasing positive ones during adolescence could enhance adult wellbeing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Lifelong Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Health)

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16 pages, 877 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Predicting Post-Disaster Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Trajectories: The Role of Pre-Disaster Traumatic Experiences

by Sydney T. Johnson, Susan M. Mason, Darin Erickson, Jaime C. Slaughter-Acey and Mary C. Waters

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21(6), 749; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21060749 - 8 Jun 2024

Viewed by 2138

Abstract

The mental health impact of disasters is substantial, with 30–40% of direct disaster victims developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is not yet clear why some people cope well with disaster-related trauma while others experience chronic dysfunction. Prior research on non-disaster trauma suggests that an individual’s history of traumatic experiences earlier in the life course, prior to the disaster, may be a key factor in explaining variability in psychological responses to disasters. This study evaluated the extent to which pre-disaster trauma predicts PTSD trajectories in a sample of Hurricane Katrina survivors followed for 12 years after the storm. Four PTSD trajectories were identified using latent class growth analysis: Resistant (49.0%), Recovery (29.3%), Delayed-Onset (8.0%), and Chronic–High (13.7%). After adjusting for covariates, pre-Katrina trauma had only a small, positive impact on the probability of long-term, chronic Katrina-specific PTSD, and little effect on the probability of the Resistant and Delayed-Onset trajectories. Higher pre-Katrina trauma exposure moderately decreased the probability of being in the Recovery trajectory, in which Katrina-specific PTSD symptoms are initially high before declining over time. When covariates were added to the model one at a time, the association between pre-Katrina trauma and Chronic–High PTSD was attenuated most by the addition of Katrina-related trauma. Our findings suggest that while pre-disaster trauma exposure does not have a strong direct effect on chronic Katrina-specific PTSD, pre-Katrina trauma may impact PTSD through other factors that affect Katrina-related PTSD, such as by increasing the severity of Katrina-related trauma. These findings have important implications for the development of disaster preparedness strategies to diminish the long-term burden of disaster-related PTSD. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Lifelong Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Health)

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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Welfare Participation as a Primary Prevention Strategy against Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Natural Experiments with Safety Net Programs in the United States

Authors: Tasfia Jahangir, Briana Woods-Jaeger, Kelli Komro, Melvin D. Livingston

Affiliation: the Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences Department of Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health