National Public Radio’s “What Shapes Health” series recently revived the discussion on Adverse Childhood Experiences, a study conducted in the 1990s by Dr. Vincent Felitti and Dr. Rob Anda.
The study was based on the ACE test, which surveys participants for 10 different types of adverse childhood experiences — ranging from abuse to losing a parent. The test assigns the participant one point for every category of adverse experience they have undergone as a child. A higher score indicates more adverse experiences.
Felitti and Anda report a positive correlation between participants’ childhood abuse history and negative health outcomes such as heart disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and even cancer.
“[A history of abuse corresponded to] very dramatic increases in pretty much every one of the major public health problems that we’d included in the study,” said Anda in an interview with NPR.
Participants with an ACE score of four or higher had double the chance of heart disease. In younger adults, childhood trauma may correspond to psychological conditions, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
However, researchers initially responded to these findings with skepticism. Some were quick to point out the pivotal difference between correlation and causation.
“An association does not necessarily mean that one thing causes the other,” said Sarah Floud, postdoctoral epidemiologist at Oxford University, in an interview with NPR.
Third-year College student Tara Saunders, a psychology major, posed a different explanation.
“It seems to me that the reason this research isn't ‘widely known’ is because it really isn't all that helpful or new,” Saunders said. “We already know that all these pieces are connected to each other, but we just don't have the evidence that trauma alone has an effect on physical health.”
Some researchers said they have been at a loss to explain through what mechanism childhood abuse can cause illnesses such as cancer. Others said they believe the answer may lie in the impairment of executive function, or judgment, due to abuse.
“[When executive function is impaired] you’re less able to tell yourself not to eat the ice cream,
or smoke the cigarette or have that additional drink,” said Megan Gunnar, University of Minnesota psychology department chair.
This impairment of judgment may negatively affect health outcomes.
Researchers like Gunnar are returning to Felitti and Anda’s findings and hypothesize they will find the aetiology of adult health outcomes in childhood abuse.
The findings indicate a history of abuse corresponds to a lower health outcome throughout a person’s life. These may be the ripple effects of childhood sexual abuse.
Asst. Psychology Prof. Noelle Hurd believes said she believes Felitti and Anda’s findings have a bearing on adulthood.
“As a researcher who is interested in prevention and intervention, I think these findings
underscore the need for greater efforts at preventing childhood trauma but also highlight the need for greater supports to adults who have experienced abuse, neglect or household dysfunction in childhood,” Hurd said.
Hurd’s research analyzes levels of student adjustment to college life. She said she believes support networks for adults and young adults may counteract the effects of childhood abuse.
“Social support and mental health services have the potential to help adults process and heal from earlier traumas which, according to the findings from the ACE study, may yield important benefits to adults' mental and physical health,” Hurd said.
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