Numerous studies over the past two decades have found a link between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and worse adult health outcomes. Less well understood is how advantageous childhood ...experiences (counter-ACEs) may lead to better adult health, especially in the presence of adversity.
To examine how counter-ACEs and ACEs affect adult physical and mental health using Resiliency Theory as the theoretical framework.
Participants were Amazon mTurk users ages 19–57 years (N = 246; 42% female) who completed an online survey.
We conducted a series of regression analyses to examine how counter-ACEs and ACEs predicted adult health.
Corresponding to the Compensatory Model of Resiliency Theory, higher counter-ACEs scores were associated with improved adult health and that counter-ACEs neutralized the negative impact of ACEs on adult health. Contrary to the Protective Factors Model, there was a stronger relationship between ACEs and worse adult health among those with above average counter-ACEs scores compared to those with below average counter-ACEs scores. Consistent with the Challenge Model, counter-ACEs had a reduced positive effect on adult health among those with four or more ACEs compared to those with fewer than four ACEs.
Overall, the findings suggest that counter-ACEs protect against poor adult health and lead to better adult wellness. When ACEs scores are moderate, counter-ACEs largely neutralize the negative effects of ACEs on adult health. Ultimately, the results demonstrate that a public health approach to promoting positive childhood experiences may promote better lifelong health.
Ongoing outbreaks of measles threaten its elimination status in the United States. Its resurgence points to lower parental vaccine confidence and local pockets of unvaccinated and undervaccinated ...individuals. The geographic clustering of hesitancy to MMR indicates the presence of social drivers that shape parental perceptions and decisions on immunization. Through a qualitative systematic review of published literature (
= 115 articles; 7 databases), we determined major themes regarding parental reasons for MMR vaccine hesitancy, social context of MMR vaccine hesitancy, and trustworthy vaccine information sources. Fear of autism was the most cited reason for MMR hesitancy. The social drivers of vaccine hesitancy included primary care/healthcare, education, economy, and government/policy factors. Social factors, such as income and education, exerted a bidirectional influence, which facilitated or hindered vaccine compliance depending on how the social determinant was experienced. Fear of autism was the most cited reason for MMR hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy to MMR and other childhood vaccines clustered in middle- to high-income areas among mothers with a college-level education or higher who preferred internet/social media narratives over physician-based vaccine information. They had low parental trust, low perceived disease susceptibility, and were skeptical of vaccine safety and benefits. Combating MMR vaccine misinformation and hesitancy requires intersectoral and multifaceted approaches at various socioecological levels to address the social drivers of vaccine behavior.
Adverse and advantageous childhood experiences (ACEs and counter-ACEs) during adolescence are understudied. This study examined how childhood experiences affect youth tobacco/alcohol use. ...Participants included 489 U.S. adolescents (baseline 10–13 years; 51% female) from the first five waves of the Flourishing Families Project. Results of the cross-lagged model showed ACEs were predictive of early tobacco use only. Counter-ACEs in wave two and wave three predicted, respectively, decreased tobacco and decreased alcohol use in the following wave. Counter-ACEs were also correlated with reduced alcohol and tobacco use in later waves. These findings indicate the salience of counter-ACEs over ACEs in persistent and late adolescent substance use, though ACEs may be important to consider to prevent very early initiation of tobacco.
Prior studies have examined how stress and the family environment affect overeating, but less is known about how COVID-19 stressors and family health may affect overeating during the COVID-19 ...pandemic. The research questions included: (1) Did COVID-19-related stressors increase the risk for overeating among adults in the United States? (2) Did family health protect against overeating during a pandemic? The sample included 443 participants aged 18 years and older living in the United States who were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Stata version 16 was used to analyze the data using multiple linear regression. The results indicate that one year into the pandemic, COVID-19 stressors were associated with increased overeating, even after adjusting for overeating before the pandemic. More family health resources were associated with less overeating. These results indicate that although COVID-19 stressors were associated with overeating, greater family health resources helped prevent overeating. Interventions and policies that aim to increase health resources for families may be particularly beneficial at preventing overeating and obesity in the face of long- and short-term stress.
Healthcare workers are highly regarded for their compassion, dedication, and composure. However, COVID-19 created unprecedented demands that rendered healthcare workers vulnerable to increased ...burnout, anxiety, and depression. This cross-sectional study assessed the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on U.S. healthcare frontliners using a 38-item online survey administered by Reaction Data between September and December 2020. The survey included five validated scales to assess self-reported burnout (Maslach Summative Burnout Scale), anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-2), resilience (Brief Resilience Coping Scale), and self-efficacy (New Self-Efficacy Scale-8). We used regression to assess the relationships between demographic variables and the psychosocial scales index scores and found that COVID-19 amplified preexisting burnout (54.8%), anxiety (138.5%), and depression (166.7%), and reduced resilience (5.70%) and self-efficacy (6.5%) among 557 respondents (52.6% male, 47.5% female). High patient volume, extended work hours, staff shortages, and lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and resources fueled burnout, anxiety, and depression. Respondents were anxious about the indefinite duration of the pandemic/uncertain return to normal (54.8%), were anxious of infecting family (48.3%), and felt conflicted about protecting themselves versus fulfilling their duty to patients (44.3%). Respondents derived strength from their capacity to perform well in tough times (74.15%), emotional support from family/friends (67.2%), and time off work (62.8%). Strategies to promote emotional well-being and job satisfaction can focus on multilevel resilience, safety, and social connectedness.
The ability to control one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors is known as self-regulation. Family stress and low adolescent self-regulation have been linked with increased engagement in risky sexual ...behaviors, which peak in late adolescence and early adulthood. The purpose of this study was to assess whether adolescent self-regulation, measured by parent and adolescent self-report and respiratory sinus arrhythmia, mediates or moderates the relationship between family financial stress and risky sexual behaviors. We assessed these relationships in a 4-year longitudinal sample of 450 adolescents (52 % female; 70 % white) and their parents using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that high family financial stress predicts engagement in risky sexual behaviors as mediated, but not moderated, by adolescent self-regulation. The results suggest that adolescent self-regulatory capacities are a mechanism through which proximal external forces influence adolescent risk-taking. Promoting adolescent self-regulation, especially in the face of external stressors, may be an important method to reduce risk-taking behaviors as adolescents transition to adulthood.
Families are an important cornerstone of individual and community health across the lifecourse. Not only do families play a role in the development of health, but the family's health is likewise ...influenced by individual health behaviors and outcomes. Therefore, to improve population health, public health programs must support families. Limited training in family science, as well as lack of instruments to help “think family,” often result in Public Health practitioners feeling ill-equipped to develop programming that supports, targets, and/or involves a diverse range of families. Tools to help public health practitioners
think family
are limited. The Family Impact Checklist is one tool that may help improve the degree to which policies support families. The purpose of this study was to adapt the Family Impact Checklist specifically for use in public health programming efforts. Through a two-round Delphi approach comprised of 17 public health professionals, the Public Health Family Impact Checklist was developed. The adapted Checklist includes 14 items across four
think family
principles: family engagement, family responsibility, family stability and family diversity. We propose that this tool will help practitioners develop high impact, family-friendly programs that ultimately lead to improved individual and community health.
The purpose of this study was to explore the physical, social, and mental health correlates of executive functioning in adults. Our sample consisted of 250 adults aged 18–55 years who participated in ...a survey. Participants reported on their physical health behaviors, family closeness, and mental health. Using hierarchical linear regression, the final model explained 41 percent of executive functioning in adults. Dispositional forgiveness of situations, stress, and living in a single-family home were the only significant correlates of executive functioning. These results are useful for better understanding possible mechanisms through which to improve executive functioning in adults.
Existing literature demonstrates a strong relationship between childhood experiences and adult health outcomes. The Differential Susceptibility to Environment Theory suggests that there are several ...factors, including personality, that affect a child's sensitivity to adverse and advantageous experiences. A sample of 246 adults (ages 19–57) were asked questions about extroverted personality characteristics, adverse and advantageous childhood experiences (ACEs and counter-ACEs), and several indicators of adult health, including executive functioning, perceived stress levels, depression, and past smoking habits. The sample was then stratified based on level of extroversion scores with the top quartile being labeled as “extroverts”, the bottom quartile as “introverts”, and those in between as “ambiverts”. Regression analyses were then used to assess the relationship between childhood experiences and each adult health outcome. The results of the study showed that the relationship between childhood experiences and adult health was generally stronger among extroverted individuals. These results suggest that extroverts may be more sensitive to environmental influences in childhood as compared to introverts and ambiverts. More research is needed to understand the neurobiological mechanisms that increase environmental sensitivity among extroverts.
Neuroscience; Psychology; Physical activity; Mental health; Individual differences; Personality assessment; Well-being; ACEs; Positive childhood experiences; Extroversion; Health; Adults
Public health programming efforts have traditionally focused on either an individualistic or population approach, neglecting the family as a setting for or partner in health promotion efforts. Due to ...the multi-faceted influence of families on individual health, family-focused, and family-friendly public health interventions are important to making lasting changes for individual and community health. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which health promotion programs in a state in the US Intermountain West involve and support families across four family impact principles: family engagement, family stability, family responsibility, and family diversity. A survey was completed by 67 health promotion administrators and practitioners from 12 out of 13 county health departments with additional responses from public health practitioners at the State Health Department. The results of the survey indicated that health promotion efforts were best at supporting family responsibility and a diverse group of families but were weaker in family engagement and family stability. Applying a more family-centered and family-focused approach to health promotion efforts can be achieved by employing interdisciplinary efforts and by taking advantage of tools like the Public Health Family Impact Checklist to intentionally engage and support families in programs and interventions.
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