How are adverse childhood experiences and women's mental health associated? A latent class analysis

Abstract

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have a cumulative effect on adult mental health; however, the effect of such combinations is less well known. The purpose of this study is to assess the association between specific combinations of early adversities and women's mental health.

Methods: A total of 378 women (M_years = 41.4; SD_years = 13) receiving support from mental health and social services participated in this cross-sectional study. Latent class analysis was performed to classify participants based on the number of ACEs types.

Results: Our results provided support for four latent classes which differed in ACEs types reported: class 1 range of maltreatment but no family disruption (16.40 %; n = 62), class 2 range of maltreatment with family disruption (24.87 %; n = 94), class 3 few ACEs (44.71 %; n = 169), class 4 high maltreatment/high family disruption (14.02 %; n = 53). Differences in psychological functioning (presence of psychopathology, attachment, emotion dysregulation, and coping strategies) were found between the classes, especially between few ACEs and high maltreatment/high family disruption classes. In addition, women who lived in a low-adversity home and those who lived in a home with maltreatment, but no family disruption, differed in their desire for closeness, problem-solving and emotional expression strategies.

Conclusion: This study highlights that the probability of exposure to different combinations of ACEs is associated with differences in adult psychological functioning. Deeper insight into this association may contribute to a better understanding of mental health problems and to improved prevention and intervention strategies in public support systems.

Keywords: Adverse childhood experiences; Attachment; Emotion regulation; Latent class analysis; Mental health; Psychopathology.