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The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Health in College Students

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Abstract

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are linked to poor adult health (Felitti et al. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258, 1998; Brown et al. BMC Public Health, 10, 20, 2010). Research on ACEs exposure in college students is lacking. This study examined the impact of ACEs, health risk behaviors, and resiliency factors on objective and subjective measures of health in college students. ACEs and health risk behaviors emerged as significant predictors of health problems. However, when resiliency factors were accounted for, gender and life satisfaction were the only significant predictors of health problems. Likewise, ACEs score and health risk behaviors emerged as significant predictors of self-rated health. However, when resiliency factors were accounted for, gender, social support, and affect were the only significant predictors of self-rated health. Life satisfaction mediated the relationship between ACE score and health problems. Findings suggest that ACEs exposure has a lasting impact on health. The ability of resiliency factors to predict health has important implications for working with college students.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Krzysztof Kaniasty, Ph.D for his extensive guidance and expertise in study design and statistical analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA, USA

    Irina Khrapatina & Pearl Berman

  2. Community Healthlink- Youth and Family Services, 275 Belmont Street, Worcester, MA, 01604, USA

    Irina Khrapatina

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  1. Irina Khrapatina
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Correspondence to Irina Khrapatina.

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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Khrapatina, I., Berman, P. The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Health in College Students. Journ Child Adol Trauma 10, 275–287 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-016-0093-0

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