Racial differences in associations between adverse childhood experiences and physical, mental, and behavioral health

Citation

Lam-Hine, Tracy; Riddell, Corinne A.; Bradshaw, Patrick T.; Omi, Michael; & Allen, Amani M. (2023). Racial differences in associations between adverse childhood experiences and physical, mental, and behavioral health. SSM - Population Health.

Abstract

Purpose: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with poor adulthood health. Multiracial people have elevated mean ACEs scores and risk of several outcomes. We aimed to determine whether this group should be targeted for prevention efforts. Methods: We analyzed three waves (1994–2009) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 12,372) in 2023, estimating associations between four or more ACEs and physical (metabolic syndrome, hypertension, asthma), mental (anxiety, depression), and behavioral (suicidal ideation, drug use) outcomes. We estimated adjusted risk ratios for each outcome in modified Poisson models interacting race and ACEs. We used the interaction contrast to estimate race-specific excess cases per 1000 relative to Multiracial participants.
Results: Excess case estimates of asthma were smaller for White (−123 cases, 95% CI: −251, −4), Black (−141, 95% CI: −285, −6), and Asian (−169, 95% CI: −334, −7) participants compared to Multiracial participants. Black (−100, 95% CI: −189, −10), Asian (−163, 95% CI: −247, −79) and Indigenous (−144, 95% CI: −252, −42) participants had fewer excess cases of and weaker relative scale association with anxiety compared to Multiracial participants. Conclusions: Adjusted associations with asthma and anxiety appear stronger for Multiracial people. ACEs may contribute disproportionately to morbidity in this population.

URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101524

Keyword(s)

Adverse childhood experiences

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

SSM - Population Health

Author(s)

Lam-Hine, Tracy
Riddell, Corinne A.
Bradshaw, Patrick T.
Omi, Michael
Allen, Amani M.

Year Published

2023

Edition

October 8, 2023

ISSN/ISBN

2352-8273

DOI

10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101524

Reference ID

10124