Adverse childhood experiences, gender, and suicidality among Florida high school students: Examining intervening mechanisms.

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) represent a key risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors among adolescents. However, the intervening mechanisms linking ACEs and suicidality, and whether such processes vary by gender, remain underexplored. OBJECTIVE: The present study examines whether the relationships between ACEs and the likelihood of experiencing suicidal thoughts and attempting suicide are indirect through depressive symptoms and low self-control. This study also investigates whether these direct and indirect paths might be moderated by gender. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The analyses make use of data on a statewide representative sample of students enrolled in public high schools in Florida (N = 23,078) from the 2022 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS). METHODS: Generalized structural equation modeling (GSEM) was used to estimate the direct and indirect effects of ACEs on the likelihood of suicidal thoughts and attempting suicide. The indirect effects were assessed using bootstrapping, and between-gender differences in the coefficients were tested. RESULTS: ACEs has direct associations with depressive symptoms, low self-control, and both suicidality outcomes. The effects of ACEs on suicidal thoughts are indirect through both depressive symptoms and low self-control, and the effects of ACEs on suicide attempts are indirect through depressive symptoms. Limited gender differences in these pathways emerge. CONCLUSIONS: For male and female youth, ACEs are associated with heightened depression symptoms and reduced self-control, and both of these factors partially explain the previously established relationship between ACEs and suicidality.

Early adverse childhood experiences and adolescent sleep outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Sleep is critical for physical, mental, and emotional health. This may be particularly true for adolescents experiencing rapid physiological changes. Relatively little is known about how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are implicated in adolescent experiences with sleep. OBJECTIVE: We use data (from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS, n = 3444) to assess the relationship between early ACE exposure (by age 5) and various adolescent sleep outcomes. We anticipate that early ACEs will be associated with poor adolescent sleep outcomes. METHODS: FFCWS data includes survey responses from parents and/or primary caregivers and children at birth and approximately one, three, five, nine, and 15 years later. The FFCWS oversampled unmarried parents with low educational attainment, income, and from marginalized racial-ethnic groups. Models of sleep outcomes included ordinary least squares, Poisson, negative binomial, logistic, and order logistic regression, as appropriate. RESULTS: Despite a high number of ACEs, adolescent hours of sleep were consistent with published recommendations. Other measures of sleep indicated adolescents in the sample experience worse sleep on most other measures. ACE exposure was associated with difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. More ACEs was also related with problematic sleep environments (i.e., place slept) and increased snoring. There was some evidence that ACEs were related to less sleep on weekends and increased social jet lag (different patterns of sleep between weekdays and weekends). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that ACEs could be important diagnostic data for clinicians in primary care and behavioral sleep medicine practice.

Measuring the prevalence and impact of adverse childhood experiences in the lives of LGBTQ individuals: A much-needed expansion.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies indicate that LGBTQ people have extensive experiences with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), more so than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts. Research also shows that LGBTQ youth endure traumatic experiences with victimization, including bullying, harassment, and violence, based on their non-hetero-cis-normative genders and/or sexual identities. Yet, most ACE measurement strategies fail to: (1) explicitly link the risk of ACE exposure to the discrimination and stigmatization of LGBTQ people, and (2) account for the breadth of potential ACE exposure in LGBTQ populations. OBJECTIVE: In the current article, we develop and present a more comprehensive ACE measurement strategy for understanding the cumulative and deleterious impacts of ACEs in the lives of LGBTQ individuals. METHODS: Here, we offer three expansions to the current ACE framework: (1) the inclusion of an LGBTQ-specific ACE in addition to the standard ACE measures, (2) the addition of LGBTQ qualifiers for current ACE items (when applicable), and (3) the expansion of ACE measures to capture the unique ACE experiences of LGBTQ individuals in family life, schools, and faith communities. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of a more comprehensive ACE measurement strategy will assist scholars and policymakers in better understanding the impacts of ACEs in the lives of LGBTQ individuals. In all, ACE measurement strategies that capture the breath of exposure of ACEs in the lives of LGBTQ individuals will assist in ACE screening, public health policy, and clinical intervention efforts.

The intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender and the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

The prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors across distinct intersections of race/ethnicity and gender among adolescents remains understudied. The current study seeks to address this important gap in suicide scholarship using a statewide representative sample of U.S. Florida middle school and high school adolescents. Data drawn from the 2022 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) (N = 41,764) were analyzed to examine disparities in suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among 26 racial/ethnic and gender subgroups of middle school and high school aged adolescents. Survey-weighted prevalence estimates for both suicidality outcomes were generated, and binary contrasts were used to assess the statistical significance of the differences in the probabilities between members of each subgroup and youth belonging to all other subgroups. Our results indicate that the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and attempts was highly gendered and varied according to racial/ethnic subgroups. Native American girls reported more suicidal thoughts (49.9%) and attempts (16.5%) in the past 12 months than any race/gender group. Other racial/ethnic and gender groups that reported particularly high rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts were West Indian/Caribbean female adolescents (48.8% and 13.4%, respectively), Puerto Rican female adolescents (48.5% and 14.7%, respectively), and Black/non-Hispanic female adolescents (19.9% and 15.6%, respectively). Because certain gender and race/ethnic subgroups are at an increased risk for suicidality, more research is needed to better understand the risk and protective factors to determine which suicide prevention strategies might best serve each group.

Measuring adverse childhood experiences with latent class trajectories.

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with several negative health and behavioral outcomes during adolescence, but most of the extant research has employed ACEs scores at one or two time points. Studies have not assessed whether latent class ACEs trajectories affect adolescent problem behaviors and conditions. OBJECTIVES: We used longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS, n = 3444) to assess ACEs at several time points and empirically developed latent class trajectories. We then examined the sociodemographic characteristics of youth who belonged to each trajectory group. We next evaluated whether the ACEs trajectories during childhood were associated with delinquent behavior, substance use, and symptoms of anxiety or depression. Finally, we explored whether closeness to mother buffered the impact of ACEs on these outcomes. METHODS: Eight types of ACEs were captured in the FFCWS data. ACE scores were assessed at year one, three, five, and nine, along with the outcomes during year 15. Trajectories were estimated with a semiparametric latent class models. RESULTS: The analysis revealed three latent trajectories during childhood: a low/none ACEs group, a medium exposure group, and a high exposure group. Adolescents in the high exposure group manifested a heightened risk of involvement in delinquent behaviors and substance use. They also reported more symptoms of anxiety and depression than their peers in the low/none and medium exposure groups. CONCLUSIONS: Repeated exposure to ACEs during childhood can have serious negative repercussions in the lives of adolescents, but maternal closeness may buffer their effects. Scholars should continue to examine the dynamics of ACEs exposure during childhood by using empirical approaches appropriate for identifying age-graded trajectories.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adolescent Delinquency: A Theoretically Informed Investigation of Mediators during Middle Childhood.

OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study are twofold. First, we explore the associations between cumulative ACEs at ages 5 and 7 and delinquency at age 14 in a national sample of youth in the United Kingdom (UK). Second, we explore the role of five theoretically relevant mediators in explaining this relationship. METHODS: Analyses were based on data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study-a prospective, longitudinal birth-cohort study of more than 18,000 individuals in the United Kingdom. RESULTS: The results indicate that early ACEs are significantly associated with adolescent delinquency, with effects becoming significantly larger as ACEs accumulate. Findings also reveal that child property delinquency, substance use, low self-control, unstructured socializing, and parent-child attachment at age 11 all significantly mediate the relationship between early ACEs and delinquency in adolescence, with early delinquency and low self-control emerging as the most robust mediators. CONCLUSIONS: Findings point to a need for early ACEs screening and a Trauma-Informed Health Care (TIC) approach in early delinquency prevention efforts. Early intervention efforts that bolster child self-control and curtail early-onset problem behaviors may also disrupt pathways from ACEs to adolescent delinquency.

Early Adverse Childhood Experiences and Positive Functioning during Adolescence.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been shown to have consequences for adolescent development, yet little is known about the association between ACEs and positive functioning. Positive functioning evaluates engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness, which are intimately related to pro-social behavior. As skills associated with sociability in adolescence often carry on into adulthood, understanding the developmental origins in inequalities in pro-social behavior, as measured by positive functioning, is key to ensuring equitable life chances across the life course. Subsequently, the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS; n = 3444) was used to examine how early exposure to cumulative ACEs, plus the timing and duration of those ACEs may be associated with positive functioning development in adolescence. The sample consisted of urban-born youth (49% female) with the mean age of 15. Racial/ethnic breakdown of the sample is 18% non-Hispanic White, 49% non-Hispanic Black, 25% Hispanic, and 8% "Other". Overall, estimates suggest that roughly 88% of these youth experienced at least one ACE by age five. The findings indicate that cumulation, timing, and duration of early ACEs are related to overall adolescent positive functioning and four out of the five domains (perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness), even after controlling for more recent ACEs. This study highlights the critical impact of very early ACEs on youth positive functioning, which may confer further physical, mental, and social disadvantages into adulthood. Positive functioning can serve as a protective factor against some of the negative consequences of adversity, and ensuring that all families receive proper supports may limit the lifelong effects of adversity, and most importantly, prevent ACEs from occurring in the first place.

Differential Exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Florida High School Students: The Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender.

PURPOSE: The prevalence of exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) across distinct intersections of race/ethnicity and gender among adolescents remains relatively unknown. The current study seeks to address this important gap in the literature using a statewide representative sample of Florida high school students. METHODS: Data drawn from the 2020 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) (N = 20,438) were analyzed to examine differences in ACE exposure among 26 racial/ethnic and gender subgroups of high-school aged youth. Lifetime exposure to ACEs was constructed using 10 different ACE categories to measure ACEs prevalence as reported exposure to 1+ ACEs and 4+ ACEs. RESULTS: Exposure to ACEs was highly gendered and varied according to racial/ethnic subgroup. While notable differences across gender and racial/ethnic groups emerged when measuring prevalence as exposure to 1+ ACEs, several of these disparities were further amplified when prevalence was measured as exposure to 4+ ACEs. Native American female adolescents represented the group at greatest risk of high exposure to ACEs, with more than 50% of such youth reporting exposure to 4+ ACEs. DISCUSSION: The prevalence of ACE exposure varies significantly across race/ethnic and gender subgroups of youth. These intersections should be considered for prevention efforts and clinical treatments of trauma exposure as ACEs may be linked to certain outcomes or behaviors based on high exposure in certain subpopulations of youth.

A recurrent single-exon deletion in TBCK might be under-recognized in patients with infantile hypotonia and psychomotor delay.

Advanced bioinformatics algorithms allow detection of multiple-exon copy-number variations (CNVs) from exome sequencing (ES) data, while detection of single-exon CNVs remains challenging. A retrospective review of Baylor Genetics' clinical ES patient cohort identified four individuals with homozygous single-exon deletions of TBCK (exon 23, NM_001163435.2), a gene associated with an autosomal recessive neurodevelopmental phenotype. To evaluate the prevalence of this deletion and its contribution to disease, we retrospectively analyzed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array data for 8194 individuals undergoing ES, followed by PCR confirmation and RT-PCR on individuals carrying homozygous or heterozygous exon 23 TBCK deletions. A fifth individual was diagnosed with the TBCK-related disorder due to a heterozygous exon 23 deletion in trans with a c.1860+1G>A (NM_001163435.2) pathogenic variant, and three additional heterozygous carriers were identified. Affected individuals and carriers were from diverse ethnicities including European Caucasian, South Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic American and African American, with only one family reporting consanguinity. RT-PCR revealed two out-of-frame transcripts related to the exon 23 deletion. Our results highlight the importance of identifying single-exon deletions in clinical ES, especially for genes carrying recurrent deletions. For patients with early-onset hypotonia and psychomotor delay, this single-exon TBCK deletion might be under-recognized due to technical limitations of ES.

Early Adverse Childhood Experiences and Social Skills Among Youth in Fragile Families.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with negative health and behavioral outcomes across the life course, yet little is known about the association between early ACEs and social skills among youth. As social skills are often shaped by home environments, and social skills developed in adolescence often persist into adulthood, understanding the processes that drive inequalities in developmental outcomes, such as social skills, is imperative. The present study used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW; n = 3245) and ordinary least squares regression analyses to explore the associations between early ACEs by age 5 (i.e., cumulative, timing, duration) and youth social skills (components include: emotional maturity, communication skills, intentionality, and social competence). The weighted sample consisted of urban-born youth (44% female) with a mean age of 15. Racial/ethnic breakdown of the sample is 37% non-Hispanic White, 25% non-Hispanic Black, 28% Hispanic, and 10% 'Other'. Overall, estimates suggest that nearly 79% of these youth experienced at least one ACE by age 5. Furthermore, the results indicated that as the number of early ACEs increased, deficits in social skills also increased. Moreover, the timing of exposure to early ACEs (i.e., high early, intermittent, chronic high) decreased social skills. The findings underscore the unique and robust links between early ACEs and youth social skills, underlining the importance of ACE exposure in social skill development.

Cumulative Stressors and Adolescent Substance Use: A Review of 21st-Century Literature.

The aim of this review is to assess empirical studies from the last 2 decades that have examined the association between cumulative stressors and adolescent substance use. Cumulative stressors were measured in these studies with adverse childhood experiences or adolescent stressful life events inventories. The 109 articles meeting the eligibility criteria that emerged from the review demonstrated a consistent, yet modest, association between cumulative stressors and adolescent substance use. Of note, several studies found that the associations were moderated or mediated by genetic factors related to cortisol regulation, intrapersonal factors such as low self-control, or interpersonal factors such as peer substance use. The review's findings thus suggest that efforts to reduce the effects of cumulative stressors on substance use could gainfully identify and target these risk moderators and mediators.

Early adverse childhood experiences and exclusionary discipline in high school.

The use of school suspension and expulsion is a widespread phenomenon in American schools (Wallace et al., 2009; Owens and McLanahan, 2020). Yet, much of what we know about these exclusionary practices provide little insight into the personal biographies of the students themselves-specifically their histories of childhood trauma. Using measures of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), we examine the link between early ACEs (up to age 5) and school suspension/expulsion using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (1998-2010) (FFCWS). We find that a child with a cumulative ACE score are almost four times more likely to have been suspended or expelled. Importantly, this negative link persists even when accounting for factors known to be associated with ACEs and school discipline. This work offers new theoretical insight into how we understand discipline in school contexts and suggests the importance of trauma-informed interventions in the American education system.

Childhood Adversity and Intimate Partner Violence in Adulthood: The Mediating Influence of PTSD in a Sample of Women Prisoners.

Although past research documents strong linkages between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and adult intimate partner violence (IPV) in the lives of women prisoners, researchers have often neglected to consider the potential mediating role of PTSD in the relationships between ACEs and adult IPV. Using data from a stratified random sample of all incarcerated women in Oklahoma (N = 334), we explore the relationships between ACEs, PTSD symptomology, and adult IPV utilizing a feminist life course theoretical framework. Results indicate that PTSD symptomology fully mediates the relationship between ACEs and adult IPV, suggesting that PTSD may be central to understanding pathways to adult IPV as well as offending and incarceration for women. Implications and suggestions for policy and future research are offered.

Native American and Non-Native American Women Prisoners, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and the Perpetration of Physical Violence in Adult Intimate Relationships.

Native American women are at an especially high risk of lifetime violence, including childhood abuse, intimate partner violence (IPV), and sexual assault, and are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Yet few studies have examined how the long-term effects of child maltreatment and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect Native American women prisoners' perpetration of physical violence in adult intimate relationships. This is surprising because ample research illustrates that childhood adverse events, particularly childhood abuse and neglect, have far-reaching effects across the life course and that these experiences are especially apparent in the lives of women involved in the criminal justice system. Using data from a stratified random sample of Native American (n = 92) and non-Native American (n = 264) women prisoners in Oklahoma, we explore the relationships between individual, cumulative, and clusters of ACEs as they relate to the use of physical violence in adult intimate relationships. Utilizing a feminist life course theoretical framework, our findings indicate that ACEs are not only critical to understanding adult IPV but also that the mechanisms and processes underlying the relationships between ACEs and the perpetration of physical violence in adult intimate relationships differ for Native American and non-Native American women. The findings of the current study demonstrate that it is imperative that prison programming includes trauma-informed and trauma-specific interventions targeting Native Americans.

Childhood adversity, mental health, and the perpetration of physical violence in the adult intimate relationships of women prisoners: A life course approach.

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are common, with nearly two-thirds of adult samples reporting exposure to at least one and one-quarter reporting exposure to three or more distinct types of ACEs. ACEs have been linked to various negative outcomes across the life course, including mental health problems, and the perpetration of physical violence in intimate relationships. However, little is known about the relationships between ACEs, PTSD symptomology, and use of physical violence against an adult intimate partner among incarcerated women. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between ACEs, PTSD symptoms, and the perpetration of the physical violence in the adult intimate relationships of women prisoners. METHODS: Using data from the 2014 Oklahoma Study of Incarcerated Mothers and Their Children (N = 349) and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques, we investigate the potential mediating effect of PTSD symptoms in the relationship between ACEs and perpetrating violence against an intimate partner. RESULTS: Our findings indicate that PTSD symptomology fully mediates the relationship between ACEs and the perpetration of physical violence against an adult intimate partner, indicating that PTSD experiences may be central to understanding women's pathways toward violence. CONCLUSIONS: Women prisoners who were exposed to ACEs during childhood were at a particularly elevated risk of developing PTSD symptomology and perpetrating physical violence against an adult intimate partner. Based on the current study's findings, treatment programs that address these complex relationships between ACEs, particularly focusing on the central role of mental health in these processes, are needed for incarcerated women.

No Idle Threat: Coercive Control and Enacted Violence in the Pre-Prison Relationships of Incarcerated Women.

While much research documents physical and sexual abusive experiences in the lives of women prisoners, less is known about their experiences with coercive control. Utilizing Dutton, Goodman, and Schmidt's (2008) measures of coercive control and framed by a feminist pathways approach, this study examines the connections between experiences of coercive control and physical and sexual violence in adult intimate relationships, including how women perceive and respond to experiences of coercion. Findings demonstrate how incarcerated women experience significant levels of control, manipulation, threats, and demands from their partners in relation to personal activities, financial resources, interpersonal interactions, illegal activities, and other areas. Moreover, findings show these threats and demands to be aggressively enforced and directly related to physical and sexual violence against these women, as well as threats to the safety and security of their family, friends, and children. Additional findings and details are discussed.

Life as she knows it: The effects of adverse childhood experiences on intimate partner violence among women prisoners.

Most incarcerated women suffer from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as abuse (e.g., physical, sexual, emotional), neglect, (e.g., physical, emotional), and chaotic home environments (e.g., witnessing domestic violence), and adult intimate partner violence (IPV). Yet the majority of research on the relationship between ACEs and IPV has been limited to non-incarcerated populations. Using data from a stratified random sample of all incarcerated women in Oklahoma (n = 355), we explore the relationships between individual, cumulative, and clusters of ACEs as they relate to multiple forms of IPV in adulthood utilizing a feminist life course theory approach. Our findings indicate that individual ACEs, high accumulation of ACEs (five or more), and clusters of ACEs are linked to simple assault, aggravated assault, sexual abuse, and psychological abuse in adult intimate relationships in the pre-prison lives of women prisoners suggesting strong support for the use of a feminist life course theory approach in understanding these relationships.

Hydrogen bonding interactions in methacrylate monomers and polymers.

It is well appreciated that hydrogen bonding affects a variety of monomer and polymer properties. This study focused on Bis-GMA and urethane dimethacrylate (UDMA) to help elucidate how the strength and nature of specific noncovalent interactions involved with these different functional dimethacrylate structures are expressed in the monomers and polymers. Hydrogen bonding interactions in monomers and comonomer mixtures as well as in appropriate model compounds were examined by FT-IR under ambient conditions, at elevated temperatures and in dilution studies. The investigation of hydrogen bonding extended to monomer viscosity, photopolymerization reaction kinetics, and polymer mechanical properties. The strength of hydrogen bonding was shown not only to be greater for Bis-GMA compared with UDMA, but there is also greater contribution from intermolecular interactions that enhance the hydrogen bonding effects. While UDMA-based polymers reach significantly higher levels of conversion compared with Bis-GMA materials, the stronger hydrogen bonding reinforcement associated with Bis-GMA appears to provide for comparable mechanical strength properties. Depending on the hydrogen bond donor functionality of a monomer as well as its neighboring functional groups, overall monomer structure and comonomers used, hydrogen bonding can favorably affect polymerization reactivity and mechanical properties, even in materials that form highly crosslinked polymeric networks.