Walsh Matthew, Joyce Sophie, Maloney Tim, Vaithianathan Rhema
Center for Social Data Analytics, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland.
N Z Med J. 2019 Apr 12;132(1493):15-24.
The Center for Disease Control's (CDC) Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been associated with adverse health consequences in adults and children, but less is known about any association between ACE and early learning skills. We investigated the relationship between ACEs and objective preschool measures of skills using the Growing up In New Zealand (GUiNZ) cohort study (n=5,562; 2009-2015).
We mapped standard ACE definitions to GUiNZ to determine the prevalence of ACEs. We performed regression analysis to investigate the association between ACEs and a range of outcome measures, including counting up to 10, counting down from 10, letter recognition, affective knowledge, name writing, number writing and delayed gratification.
Before entering primary school, 52.8% of GUiNZ children experienced at least one ACE. We found a dose-response relationship with seven of the eight tests. For example, after statistically adjusting for multiple potential confounders, for each one additional ACE, children were 1.12 times more likely to be unable to count up from 1-10 (95% Confidence Interval 1.04-1.19).
Awareness of the negative impact of ACEs on school readiness should aid in the development and prioritisation of prevention strategies to reduce the occurrence and impact of ACEs in children.
美国疾病控制中心（CDC）的儿童期不良经历（ACEs）已被证明与成人和儿童的不良健康后果相关，但ACEs与早期学习技能之间的关联却鲜为人知。我们利用新西兰成长（GUiNZ）队列研究（n = 5562；2009 - 2015）调查了ACEs与学前技能客观测量之间的关系。
我们将标准的ACE定义映射到GUiNZ，以确定ACEs的患病率。我们进行了回归分析，以研究ACEs与一系列结果测量之间的关联，包括从1数到10、从10倒数、字母识别、情感认知、名字书写、数字书写和延迟满足。
在进入小学之前，52.8%的GUiNZ儿童经历过至少一次ACE。我们在八项测试中的七项中发现了剂量反应关系。例如，在对多个潜在混杂因素进行统计学调整后，每增加一次ACE，儿童从1数到10数不出来的可能性就增加1.12倍（95%置信区间1.04 - 1.19）。
认识到ACEs对入学准备的负面影响，应有助于制定和优先实施预防策略，以减少儿童ACEs的发生及其影响。
