Patterns of adverse childhood experiences and community environments

Abstract

This study examined patterns of adverse childhood experience and its association with community environments. Using the 2020 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) data, 30,056 children who are 6–17 years of age were our samples for the investigation. Among them, 14,026 children with at least one Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) were profiled through latent cluster analysis. We found four classes of ACEs: separation/divorce, multiple low-risk, multiple high-risk, and alcohol/drug problem. Moreover, controlling for socio-demographic variables (i.e., race/ethnicity, the highest education level of primary caregiver in a household), we found significant differences in the quality of supportive neighborhoods and the number of positive and adverse community amenities across children categorized into four classes of ACEs and no ACE class (i.e., children without ACEs, n = 16,030). Implications for research on ACEs and their association with the community environment are discussed.