Adverse childhood experiences among high-risk children living in socially vulnerable areas.
Leticia Gramazio Soares, Sabrina Dos Santos Tomé, Isabella Schroeder Abreu and 5 others
PMID 40105645WHAT IT FOUND
Adverse childhood experiences were found in 18.6% of high-risk children in vulnerable areas.
Violence, divorce, substance abuse, income problems and poor infrastructure were common. 20 children had two to five events, 11 had six to nine, and four had more than 10.
Key findings
01The study found that 18.6% of the children had adverse childhood experiences.
02Among the 45 children, families reported violence in 64.3%, parental divorce in 28.8%, substance abuse by primary caregivers in 22.2%, caregiver health issues that interfered with child care in 15.6%, and caregiver conflicts with the law in 11.1%.
03The reported number of adverse events per child was: 20 children had two to five events, 11 children had six to nine events, 10 children had only one event, and four children had more than 10 events.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 45 of the 92 selected children participated; 26 had changed address, 18 caregivers were not found at home, and 3 refused, so the findings may not represent all high-risk children in these areas. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that adverse childhood experiences caused developmental problems. Eight caregivers did not have the child's health card, so growth and development information was missing for those children. Data collection happened in families' homes because the outpatient clinic was undergoing physical restructuring during the collection period. The sample was limited to caregivers of children aged zero to two years in socially vulnerable neighborhoods in one Brazilian region, so results may not apply to other children or settings. The authors note that reported violence may be underreported because disclosing domestic violence has barriers.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the ACE findings as proof that adversity caused developmental harm. The study is cross-sectional and cannot establish cause and effect, and attrition may have biased the prevalence.