SynthesisBMC medical research methodology2025
Measuring adversity in the ABCD® Study: systematic review and recommendations for best practices.
Synthesis in BMC medical research methodology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Understanding adverse childhood experiences within the first decade of the ABCD study: A systematic review.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Positive affect as a developmental mediator of early adversity and internalizing psychopathology.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Article
- Longitudinal MRI reveals adolescent pituitary growth patterns linked to puberty and environmental exposures.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Cognitive and affective neurodevelopment in youth exposed to deprivation and threat.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Timing and tempo of puberty and neurodevelopment following adversity: A registered report.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- Cumulative social adversity as a correlate of self harm: Validity of the Reward Probability Index.PloS one · 2026Article
- Research Letter: Childhood Adversity and Risk of Subsequent Head and Neck Injury: an ABCD Cohort Analysis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Multilevel Correlates of Youth Delinquent Behaviors: An Exploratory Analysis of Socioeconomic Context, Psychological Traits, and Task-Based Neural Activation in the ABCD Study.Social science insights and applications · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEarly life adversity (ELA) has substantial, lifelong impacts on mental and physical health and development. Data from the ABCD® Study will provide essential insights into these effects. Because the study lacks a unified adversity assessment, our objective was to use a critical, human-driven approach to identify variables that fit ELA domains measured in this study.
methodsWe clarify best practices in measurement of adversity in the ABCD Study through the creation of adversity scores based on the well-established Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) questionnaire and another inclusive of broader ELA. Variables previously used to measure adversity in the ABCD dataset were determined via literature review. We assessed each variable to identify its utility in measuring domains of adversity at baseline and follow-up time points and by individual completing the assessment (i.e., youth or caregiver). Variables were selected that align with decades of ELA measurement, and therefore, can be used by research teams as measures of ELA.
resultsThe literature review and critical analysis of items led to the development of three measures of ELA: an ACES-proxy score, a youth-reported ACEs-proxy score, and a broader ELA score (ELA
conclusionsThe ABCD Study is one of the largest longitudinal studies of youth development, with data available for secondary analysis. Our review of existing measures and development of a coding schema will allow examination of ELA using this dataset, informing our understanding of risk, resilience, and prevention.
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