Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and associations with personal and professional factors in health and social care workers: A systematic review.

Abstract

Objective: To systematically review papers reporting the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in health and social care workers, as well as any personal or professional factors they were associated with. Method: CINAHL, EMCARE, PsychInfo, and Medline were searched to find studies utilizing the ACE questionnaire (Felitti et al., 1998) in health and social care worker populations. Results: The initial search returned 1,764 papers, with 17 studies meeting the inclusion criteria to be in the review. Conclusions: ACEs among health and social care workers were frequently reported and occurred more often than in the general population. They were also associated with several personal and professional outcomes, including poor physical and mental health, and workplace stress. Understanding staff ACE characteristics can help organizations to consider ways to support staff, which may be individual or systemic. Trauma-responsive systems may be a possible answer among organizations to improve staff well-being, quality of service, and better outcomes for service users. Clinical Impact StatementGiven that the experience of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can increase vulnerability to stressors for staff, organizational pressures have the potential to become risk factors for burnout, stress, and emotional exhaustion. Understanding the prevalence of ACEs among health and social care workers, as well as the potential long-standing impact on staff both personally and professionally, can help organizations plan and deliver interventions for staff and develop services and systems that are trauma-responsive (Esaki, 2020). This has the potential to reduce absenteeism and turnover of staff, as well as improve the quality of services in health and social care.

Burnout and secondary traumatic stress in staff working with people with intellectual disabilities: The role of adverse childhood experiences, resilience and trauma‐informed organisational climate

“…The mean of ACE total scores in the sample were greater than in a US sample of direct support workers in learning disability settings, with the UK sample more likely to have experienced at least one ACE (75.6% versus 81.7%) (Keesler, 2018). This is in keeping with evidence that those who work in health and social care report experiencing more ACEs than the general population (Mercer et al, 2023).…”

“…(Keesler, 2018). This is in keeping with evidence that those who work in health and social care report experiencing more ACEs than the general population (Mercer et al, 2023).…”