Adverse Childhood Experiences and Health Indicators in a Young Adult, College Student Sample: Differences by Gender.

AUTOMOBILE driving; COLLEGE students; MENTAL depression; HEALTH status indicators; MENTAL health; OBESITY; QUESTIONNAIRES; SEX distribution; SLEEP; SMOKING; SUBSTANCE abuse; SUICIDAL behavior; UNIVERSITIES & colleges; LOGISTIC regression analysis; SUICIDAL ideation; CROSS-sectional method; ELECTRONIC cigarettes; ADVERSE childhood experiences; ADULTS

Background: The original Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study demonstrated strong, graded relationships between child maltreatment and household dysfunction and adult health status. The present study re-examined these relationships in a sample of young adult, college students to better characterize the developmental timing of health problems related to ACE exposure and differences by biological sex. Method: A cross-sectional general health questionnaire that included items on ACE was administered to young adults (ages 18–29) at universities in California (n = 3880), Minnesota (n = 7708), and Texas (n = 451) between 2017 and 2018. Seven ACE were assessed: psychological, physical, or sexual abuse; violence between parents; or living with household members who were substance misusers, mentally ill, or ever imprisoned. Binary health indicators were regressed on number of ACE as 0 (referent), 1, 2, 3, and 4 or more using logistic regression controlling for age, biological sex, race/ethnicity, and site. Results: Approximately 51.7% of the sample reported at least one ACE with a significantly higher rate among Texas participants (p < 0.001). We observed graded relationships between levels of ACE exposure and physical, mental, and behavioral health indicators including cigarette use, e-cigarette use, drinking and driving, obesity, lifetime depression, suicide ideation and attempt, non-suicidal self-injury, and lack of restful sleep. ACE-exposed females reported worse mental health status than ACE-exposed males while males reported more substance use than females. Most outcomes did not vary significantly by sex. Conclusion: The strong, graded relationships observed between ACE exposure and health status among young adults reinforce the need for trauma-informed intervention programs on college campuses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Behavioral Medicine is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)