ABSTRACT

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to mental and physical health problems, leading to ACEs being viewed as a public health concern. Yet, less research has focused on the prevalence and impact of ACEs among diverse racial and ethnic groups. Given the increasing diversity in the USA, coupled with research that has found certain racial and ethnic groups to experience larger-scale adversity such as poverty or discrimination more frequently than White individuals, it is important to understand how ACEs are experienced by people of color. The current study examined the prevalence of ACEs among diverse racial and ethnic groups, and associations between ACE score and mental and physical health. Even after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, ACE scores of 3 or higher were linked to more physical and mental health problems. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction effect between ACE score and race on physical health, while none of the interaction terms were significant between ACE score and race on mental health. This suggests that higher ACE scores have a more detrimental impact on physical health for people of color. Implications for social work include implementing community-level ACE-informed responses, especially in communities that serve traditionally marginalized populations.

摘要

不良童年经历 (ACE) 与心理和身体健康问题有关，导致 ACE 被视为公共卫生问题。然而，很少有研究关注 ACE 在不同种族和族裔群体中的流行和影响。鉴于美国的多样性日益增加，加上研究发现某些种族和族裔群体比白人更频繁地经历更大规模的逆境，例如贫困或歧视，了解有色人种如何经历 ACE 非常重要。目前的研究检查了不同种族和族裔群体中 ACE 的患病率，以及 ACE 评分与身心健康之间的关联。即使在调整了社会人口因素后，ACE 分数为 3 或更高也与更多的身心健康问题有关。此外，ACE 分数和种族之间对身体健康有显着的交互作用，而 ACE 分数和种族之间没有一个交互项对心理健康有显着影响。这表明较高的 ACE 分数对有色人种的身体健康产生更不利的影响。对社会工作的影响包括实施社区级别的 ACE 知情响应，特别是在为传统边缘化人群服务的社区中。