TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2020//
TI  - Adverse childhood experiences and health indicators in a young adult, college student sample: differences by gender
JO  - International journal of behavioral medicine
A1  - Grigsby, Timothy J.
A1  - Rogers, Christopher J.
A1  - Albers, Larisa D.
A1  - Benjamin, Stephanie M.
A1  - Lust, Katherine
A1  - Eisenberg, Marla E.
A1  - Forster, Myriam
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - 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.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1070-5503
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12529-020-09913-5
ID  - ref1
ER  -