ArticleBMC public health2018
Stress begets stress: the association of adverse childhood experiences with psychological distress in the presence of adult life stress.
Article in BMC public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 73 papers.
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Who cites it
73 citing papers in PubMed, 154 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- The relationship between adverse childhood experiences and common mental disorders among pregnant women living with HIV in Malawi.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Trial
- Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on Mental Health Help-Seeking Among Asian American Adults: Findings from the 2021 California Health Interview Survey.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2026Article
- Gender Differences in Adverse Childhood Experiences, Psychological Distress, and Substance Use Disorder Among Persons who Inject Drugs in Northeast Georgia, USA: A Moderated Mediation Analysis.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2026Article
- Adverse childhood experiences and adult stress eating: A secondary analysis of the Southern Community Cohort Study.Research square · 2026Article
- Effects of HIV and Adverse Childhood Experiences on Neurocognition.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2026Article
- Associations between Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences, Stressful Life Events, and Child Behavioral Outcomes in Racially/Ethnically Diverse Families.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2026Article
- Explaining Associations Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Spiritual Well-Being Through Resilient Mindset, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Among Turkish University Students.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Impact of parental adverse childhood experiences on offspring anxiety and depressive symptoms: a three-year longitudinal study.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- The relationship between adverse childhood experiences and depression and anxiety in adolescents: the chain mediating effect of perceived stress and self-hate.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The role of stress proliferation in linking childhood stressors to accelerated biological aging.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
- Adverse childhood experiences and adult stress eating.Research square · 2025Article
- Psychological flexibility mediates the long-term impact of adverse interpersonal experiences in childhood and adolescence.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Adverse Experiences in Early Childhood and Emotional Behavioral Problems Among Chinese Preschoolers: Psychological Resilience and Problematic Media Use.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Exploring the effects of adolescent social isolation stress on the serotonin system and ethanol-motivated behaviors.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Pathways from Adverse Childhood Family Environment to Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Impact Among Women.Journal of women's health (2002) · 2025Article
- Molecular insights into trauma: A framework of epigenetic pathways to resilience through intervention.Med (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Review
- Association of childhood maltreatment and adverse lifetime experiences with post-injury psychopathology: evidence from the China Severe Trauma Cohort.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Trauma as a mediator of childhood adversity and mental illness in South Africa: A path analysis.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2025Article
- "Girls get stressed due to the situation we are facing": Multi-level mental health stressors and resilience enablers among adolescent girls and young women in South Africa.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
13 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAdverse childhood experiences (ACES) have been linked to poor health and well-being outcomes, including poor mental health such as psychological distress. Both ACEs and psychological distress pose a significant public health burden, particularly in low to middle income countries. Contemporaneous stress events in adulthood may also impact psychological distress. The aims of this study were to describe the prevalence of ACEs and psychological distress and to assess the separate and cumulative effect of ACEs on psychological distress, while accounting for the effect of adult stress.
methodsIn this cross-sectional study, we used retrospectively measured ACEs from a sample of 1223 young adults aged between 22 and 23 years (52% female) from the Birth to Twenty Plus Study. Psychological distress and adult life stress were measured with a six-month recall period. Hierarchical logistic regression was employed to assess the associations between the exposures and outcome.
resultsNearly 90% of the sample reported at least one ACE and 28% reported psychological distress. The median number of ACEs reported was three (range 0-11). After accounting for demographic and socio-economic factors, all ACEs were individually associated with psychological distress except for parental divorce and unemployment. The individual ACEs increased the odds of PD by between 1.42 and 2.79 times. Compared to participants experiencing no ACEs, those experiencing one to five ACEs were three times more likely to report psychological distress (AOR 3.2 95% CI: 1.83-5.63), while participants who experienced six or more ACEs had nearly eight times greater odds of reporting psychological distress (AOR 7.98 95% CI: 4.28-14.91). Interaction analysis showed that in the absence of adult life stress, the effect of low ACEs compared to high ACEs on PD was not significantly different. DISCUSSION AND
conclusionThe prevalence of ACEs in this young adult population is high, similar to other studies in young adult populations. A significant direct association exists between ACEs and psychological distress. Adult life stress seems to be a mediator of this relationship. Interventions targeted at psychological distress should address both early life adversity and contemporary stress.
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