Public Opinion About Adverse Childhood Experiences: Social Stigma, Attribution of Blame, and Government Intervention

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are receiving increasing attention in academic, policy, and media discourses. However, no public opinion research has focused on ACEs. We conducted a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults to address this knowledge gap. A web-based survey was conducted using the Ipsos KnowledgePanel ( N = 503, completion rate = 60.5%) in fall 2019. We found that inter-personal stigma and parental blame related to ACEs were prevalent, with 25.0% of respondents unwilling to have a person with “a lot of ACEs” as a close co-worker and 65.2% believing that parents were very much to blame for the consequences of ACEs. Fifty percent of respondents believed that government intervention to prevent ACEs was very important. After adjustment for demographic characteristics, inter-personal stigma toward people with ACEs and conservative ideology were significantly associated with lower perceived importance of government intervention to prevent ACEs. Black race, Hispanic ethnicity, and female gender were significantly associated with higher perceived importance of government intervention. These findings provide an empirical foundation to inform strategies to communicate ACE science to public and policymaker audiences.

Newspaper Coverage of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Toxic Stress in the United States, 2014–2020: Consequences, Causes, and Solutions

“…Nearly one third of ACE articles identified having a primary caregiver with a mental health or substance use problem as a cause of ACEs. Although this is consistent with how ACEs are operationalized and measured, this message suggests that caregivers with these problems increase their children’s risk of negative outcomes later in life (Macvarish & Lee, 2019; Purtle et al, 2021). This could potentially amplify negative attitudes toward people with mental health and substance use problems a population that is already highly stigmatized (Barry et al, 2014; Stringer & Baker, 2018).…”

“…The identification of primary caregivers as causes of ACEs in newspaper articles could also contribute to parental blame. A 2019 public opinion survey, which defined ACEs and summarized evidence about ACEs as risk factors for negative outcomes in adulthood, found that 65% of respondents believed that parents were “very much to blame” for the consequences of ACEs (Purtle et al, 2021).…”

Childhood Experiences and Psychological Distress: Can Benevolent Childhood Experiences Counteract the Negative Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences?

“…Much violence against children remains largely hidden and unreported because of fear and stigma and the societal acceptance of this type of violence (Pinheiro, 2006;Norman et al, 2012). Especially in Chinese undergraduates, Confucianism values and traditional cultures are rooted in thoughts (Ng, 1997), which may contribute to stigma formation, F., more shame toward ACEs (Mukolo et al, 2010;Purtle et al, 2021). Regarding BCEs, 65.7% of undergraduates reported more than 8 BCEs.…”

When trauma is stigmatized: Disidentification and dissociation in people affected by adverse childhood experiences

“…The present findings provide support for the distinction between the diverging processes of identification and disidentification (Becker & Tausch, 2014; Elsbach, 1999; Ikegami & Ishida, 2007; Verkuyten & Yildiz, 2007). The results demonstrated that indeed the stigma associated with experiences of childhood adversity (Purtle et al, 2022; Tasheuras, 2019) was linked to amplified responses to trauma, that is, heightened levels of dissociation (Schneider et al, 2018; Verelst et al, 2014) through disidentification rather than identification processes. This finding supports previous research that shows how, on a personal level, survivors cope with their trauma through dissociation as a way to protect themselves (Choi et al, 2017).…”