80.5 percent of teens experience at least one adverse childhood experience

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are very common among adolescents, with 80.5 percent experiencing at least one ACE, according to a study published online Oct. 28 in Pediatrics.

Using data from 16 states, Elizabeth A. Swedo, MD, MPH, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues estimated the prevalence of eight individual and cumulative ACEs among a large population-based sample of adolescents in the general and per group. demographic characteristics.

The researchers found that emotional abuse, poor mental health in the household and physical abuse had the highest prevalence (65.8, 36.1 and 32.5 percent respectively). Overall, 80.5 and 22.4 percent of adolescents experienced at least one ACE and four or more ACEs, respectively. Adolescents who were female (27.7 percent), non-Hispanic multiracial (33.7 percent), non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native (27.1 percent), gay or lesbian (36.5 percent), or bisexual ( 42.1 percent) or who described their sexual identity in a different way or were unsure of their sexual identity (questioned; 36.5 percent) had the highest prevalence of experiencing four or more ACEs.

“Disparities in the experiences of ACEs by students belonging to racial, ethnic, or sexual minority groups highlight the need to tailor prevention and mitigation efforts to different social and cultural contexts, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to prevention and intervention, to better support groups disproportionately affected by ACEs,” the authors write.

Copyright © 2024 Health Day. All rights reserved.