Capturing the developmental timing of adverse childhood experiences: The Adverse Life Experiences Scale.

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated with a range of physical and mental health problems, and it is now understood that the developmental timing of ACEs may be critically important. Despite this, there is a distinct lack of methods for the efficient assessment of such timing in research and clinical settings. We report on the development and validation of a new measure, the Adverse Life Experiences Scale (ALES), that indexes such developmental timing within a format incorporating caregivers’ reports of ACEs in their own lives and those of their children. Participants were a nationally representative sample of Australian families (n = 515; Study 1), and a sample of clinic-referred families (n = 168; Study 2). Results supported the internal consistency and test–retest reliability of the ALES and indicated high levels of acceptability for the measure. In terms of validity, ALES scores were significantly associated with interview-based measures of child maltreatment and quality of the family environment, as well as measures of psychopathology across multiple informants (parents, teachers, clinician-rated). Furthermore, indices of ACEs occurring within specific age-based periods of childhood were found to explain unique variance in current symptoms of child and caregiver psychopathology, independent of the overall chronicity of those ACEs and current adversity.

Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in Special Education Schools from a Multi-Informant Perspective

“…Furthermore, ACEs should be related to the specific problems students with EBD in SE have and to their short- and long term developmental outcomes. In this respect, not only the number of ACEs but also the type, timing, frequency and severity of ACEs should be taken into account, as the impact of ACEs can significantly differ because of these aspects [ 3 , 34 , 108 ]. Moreover, the potential mediating role of students’ resilience and other present risk or buffering biopsychosocial factors on outcomes should be included in future research of this specific population.…”

Science, practice, and policy related to adverse childhood experiences: Framing the conversation.

“…In describing their development of the Adverse Life Experiences Scale, Hawes et al (2021) introduce yet another important factor for consideration in measuring exposure to ACEs by demonstrating the benefits of including age of exposure. Developmental stage of exposure has direct relevance to whether some experiences generally perceived as positive (e.g., social support) can have a negative impact and thus informs the fundamental question of when an experience might be perceived as “adverse.”…”

Timing and Persistence of Material Hardship Among Children in the United States

“…Research on the effects of persistent hardship on long-term health outcomes, and how those effects may differ from the effects of transient hardship, is needed. Past research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their effects on health documented a dose–response relationship of cumulative exposure to ACEs with negative health outcomes like ischemic heart disease and cancer (Felitti, 2019 ), and recent studies have documented that the particular timing of ACEs in development matters for psychiatric outcomes like depression (Schalinski et al, 2016 ) and even epigenetic effects associated with mental health (Dunn et al, 2019 ), which has spurred calls for additional research on the nuance of ACEs by accounting for their timing, duration, frequency, and severity (Hawes et al, 2021 ; Lacey & Minnis, 2020 ). Additional research focused on material hardship experiences may help identify novel patterns of how the timing or persistence of hardship affects children’s long-term outcomes.…”