Examining Associations between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms among Young Survivors of Urban Violence

Our study examines the association between Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among survivors of violence. In this cross-sectional study, an ACE questionnaire and PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) were completed by 147 participants ≤ 3 months...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of urban health 2022-08, Vol.99 (4), p.669-679
Main Authors: Tabb, Loni Philip, Rich, John A., Waite, Daria, Alberto, Cinthya, Harris, Erica, Gardner, James, Gentile, Nina, Corbin, Theodore J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adverse Childhood Experiences
Aggression
Childhood
Children
Cross-Sectional Studies
Emergency medical care
Emergency medical services
Epidemiology
Health Informatics
Humans
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Post traumatic stress disorder
Psychological stress
Public Health
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - epidemiology
Survival
Survivors
Violence
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Summary:Our study examines the association between Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among survivors of violence. In this cross-sectional study, an ACE questionnaire and PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) were completed by 147 participants ≤ 3 months after presenting to a Philadelphia, PA emergency department between 2014 and 2019 with a violent injury. This study treated ACEs, both separate and cumulative, as exposures and PTSD symptom severity as the outcome. Most participants (63.3%) met criteria for provisional PTSD, 90% reported experiencing ≥ 1 ACE, and 39% reported experiencing ≥ 6 ACEs. Specific ACEs were associated with increasing PCL-5 scores and increased risk for provisional PTSD. Additionally, as participants’ cumulative ACE scores increased, their PCL-5 scores worsened ( b = 0.16; p < 0.05), and incremental ACE score increases predicted increased odds for a positive provisional PTSD screen. Results provide further evidence that ACEs exacerbate the development of PTSD in young survivors of violence. Future research should explore targeted interventions to treat PTSD among survivors of interpersonal violence.
ISSN:1099-3460
1468-2869
DOI:10.1007/s11524-022-00628-4