Journal
JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH
Volume 32, Issue 3, Pages 541-550Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.1080/09638237.2022.2091765
Keywords
Adverse childhood experiences; parental mental illness; risk factors; socioeconomic
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This study found that young adults with parental mental illness are more likely to experience emotional abuse, domestic violence, bullying, and cumulative adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) compared to those without parental mental illness. Living in rural areas and having a low household economic status during childhood were identified as risk factors for cumulative ACEs, while a higher education level of the mother was a protective factor.
Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect children's development, and their harm to health is pervasive throughout the life course. Aims To identify ACEs and their risk factors in Chinese household with or without parental mental illness. Methods A controlled study was conducted among 181 young adults with parental mental illness (positive group) and 201 demographically matched individuals without parental mental illness (negative group). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to study the correlation between ACEs and their risk factors. Results The positive group suffered emotional abuse, domestic violence, bullying, and cumulative ACEs more frequently than the negative group. In the positive group, living in rural areas and having a low household economic status during childhood were identified as risk factors for cumulative ACEs, whereas a higher education level of the mother was a protective factor for cumulative ACEs in univariate analyses. Low household economic status remained an independent risk factor for cumulative ACEs in the positive group in multivariate analyses. Conclusions Children living with parental mental illness are more vulnerable to ACEs, and our findings highlight the importance of socioeconomic factors in increasing the risk of ACEs. To alleviate the deleterious impact of parental mental illness on offspring, multidimensional supports are needed.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available