Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University, 4103 LSB, Provo, UT, 84602, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Apr 5;21(1):651. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10732-w.
The objective of the study was to determine the association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and positive childhood experiences (PCEs) with family health in adulthood. Prior research indicates that ACEs and PCEs affect individual physical and mental health in adulthood. However, little is known about how ACEs and PCEs affect family health. Families develop and function through patterns and routines which are often intergenerational. Therefore, a person's early experiences may influence their family's health in adulthood.
A survey was administered to 1030 adults through Qualtrics, with participants recruited using quota-sampling to reflect the demographic characteristics of U.S. adults. Participants completed a survey about their childhood experiences, four domains of family health (family social and emotional health processes, family healthy lifestyle, family health resources, and family external social supports), and demographic characteristics. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
After controlling for marriage, education, gender, race and age, ACEs were negatively associated with family social and emotional health processes and family health resources when accounting for PCEs; PCEs were positively associated with all four family health domains irrespective of ACEs.
Childhood experiences affect family health in adulthood in the expected direction. Even in the presence of early adversity, positive experiences in childhood can provide a foundation for creating better family health in adulthood.
本研究旨在探讨儿童时期不良经历（ACEs）和积极经历（PCEs）与成年后家庭健康的关系。既往研究表明 ACEs 和 PCEs 会影响成年人的身心健康。然而，关于 ACEs 和 PCEs 如何影响家庭健康的研究却很少。家庭是通过模式和常规发展和运作的，这些模式和常规往往是代际相传的。因此，一个人的早期经历可能会影响其成年后家庭的健康。
本研究通过 Qualtrics 向 1030 名成年人发放问卷，采用配额抽样招募参与者，以反映美国成年人的人口统计学特征。参与者完成了一份关于其童年经历、家庭健康的四个方面（家庭社会和情感健康过程、家庭健康生活方式、家庭健康资源和家庭外部社会支持）以及人口统计学特征的调查。使用结构方程模型对数据进行分析。
在控制婚姻、教育、性别、种族和年龄后，当考虑 PCEs 时，ACEs 与家庭社会和情感健康过程以及家庭健康资源呈负相关；而 PCEs 与所有四个家庭健康领域均呈正相关，与 ACEs 无关。
童年经历以预期的方式影响成年后的家庭健康。即使存在早期逆境，童年的积极经历也可以为成年后创造更好的家庭健康奠定基础。
