Jefferson County health officials are sharing research on the link between childhood trauma and adult health issues — a topic with broad implications in Montana, where young children are twice as likely to live with an adult suffering from such problems.
On May 16, midway through Mental Health Awareness Month, Jefferson County Prevention Specialist Barb Reiter and Jefferson County Public Health School Nurse Pam Hanna gave the first of two presentations on Adverse Childhood Experiences at Boulder Community Library.
A follow-up event, a screening of the documentary “Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope,” which shows how to mitigate and address the outcomes of Adverse Childhood Experiences and toxic stress, takes place at the library on at 6:30 p.m. on May 23.
Both presentations, sponsored by the Jefferson County Mental Health Local Advisory Council, discuss the impact on mental health of childhood trauma and how to address it.
According to materials provided by Reiter, Adverse Childhood Experiences, commonly called ACEs, include “all types of abuse, neglect and other potentially traumatic experiences that occur to people under the age of 18” and “have been linked to chronic health conditions and risk factors,” including seven out of 10 of the leading causes of death in the United States.
ACEs research has honed in on 10 categories of childhood adversity, each qualified as being an experience of household dysfunction — such as parental substance abuse, mental illness and separation or divorce — emotional and physical neglect, and emotional, physical or sexual abuse.
Health conditions and risk factors linked to ACEs include depression, obesity, smoking, coronary heart disease, alcohol abuse and unintended pregnancy, according to materials Reiter and Hanna presented on May 16.
They also showed the potential impact of ACEs in Montana. Fourteen percent of Montana children under the age of 5 are living with someone affected by an alcohol or drug problem, and 17% of Montana children aged 6 to 11 are living with someone with mental health issues — both figures more than double the national average.
The presentation included a video of a talk by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, one of the leaders in linking ACEs and related toxic stress with health problems later in life. In it Harris said that while many of the aforementioned health problems can result from high-risk behaviors such as drinking or smoking, studies have shown that people who experienced four or more of the 10 ACEs categories are more likely to get lung disease or cancer than people who experienced none — even if those in the former group never participated in any high-risk behaviors. Harris also called ACEs the most unaddressed public health problem in the United States.
The concept of ACEs evolved from an initial study by Kaiser Permanente’s Department of Preventive Medicine in San Diego and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the late 1990s. Research has shown that about 67% of people have had at least one ACE.
Hanna said that though the idea of having had ACEs can be uncomfortable and scary, “it isn’t a death sentence.”
In fact, by being aware of ACEs and the ways to reduce their negative effects, “you can still be productive in your life,” Reiter said.
