Impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and positive childhood experiences (PCEs) on mental health among children aged 6-17 (2021-2022).

Abstract

Background: The objectives were to 1) Examine the prevalence of mental health diagnoses, symptom severity and flourishing among children aged 6-17, 2) Examine the prevalence of household and community-based adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and positive childhood experiences (PCEs), 3) Examine the relationship between ACEs, mental health diagnosis and symptom severity, and 4) Investigate how PCEs moderate the relationship between ACEs and mental health diagnoses.

Methods: We utilized the cross-sectional, 2021-2022 combined National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) data. Caregiver responses for persons aged 6-17 years were included (N = 60,809). Logistic regression and moderation models were tested to assess relationships between ACEs, PCEs and different mental health diagnoses.

Results: Having 1+ ACE was associated with higher odds of anxiety (OR: 2.23), depression (OR: 2.67), ADHD (OR: 1.31), and behavior/conduct problems (OR: 1.84). In contrast, high PCEs were linked to lower odds of anxiety (OR: 0.67), depression (OR: 0.73), ADHD (OR: 0.87), and behavior/conduct problems (OR: 0.50). Community-based ACEs had a greater impact on mental health diagnoses than household-based ACEs. PCEs moderated the association between ACEs and mental health, attenuating dose-response relationships in all models.

Discussion: Our study provided more insight into the importance of examining how PCEs influence the relationship between ACEs and mental health diagnoses with the consideration of diagnosis severity. This can help to inform researchers and providers on how to develop and improve mental and behavioral health treatment interventions that are tailored to children and adolescents.