Departments of Comparative Human Development and Sociology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Institute for the Science and Art of Learning and Teaching, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines.
Soc Sci Med. 2021 May;277:113897. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113897. Epub 2021 Apr 3.
Adverse childhood experiences' (ACEs) negative consequences on health, education, and life opportunities are often explained through the neurodevelopmental changes in a person's stress reactivity and coping, which contribute to the adoption of health-damaging and antisocial behaviors. However, such focus on the biological dimension eclipses the equally important social dimension of adversity, in particular, how adversities at home can influence association with peers who exhibit and can exacerbate negative behaviors like early and binge drinking, illegal drug use, and gang involvement. More than the consequences for peer formation, this study also investigates the contexts in which ACEs are most predictive. Using a longitudinal study of US youths who were adolescents in 2007 and young adults in 2017, I find that experiencing adversity predicted involvement in peers exhibiting negative behaviors. However, the consequences of ACEs are not similar for everyone and for every outcome: (1) In disadvantaged families where ACEs were most likely, experiencing adversity influenced having peers in gangs but not the other outcomes. (2) In the most advantaged families where ACEs were least likely, having an ACE only predicted adult peers' regular drug use. (3) In families who were in the middle, experiencing adversity predicted early and binge drinking among peers. Taken together, they suggest that complex social processes and environments operate in the negative effects of ACEs, and the present research suggests a method to investigate how ACEs' impact may differ according to one's social context.
童年逆境经历（ACEs）对健康、教育和生活机会的负面影响通常通过个体应激反应和应对能力的神经发育变化来解释，这导致了对健康有害和反社会行为的采用。然而，这种对生物维度的关注掩盖了逆境同样重要的社会维度，特别是家庭中的逆境如何影响与表现出并可能加剧早期和 binge 饮酒、非法药物使用和帮派参与等负面行为的同龄人之间的联系。本研究不仅调查了 ACEs 最具预测性的环境，还调查了 ACEs 对同伴形成的后果。使用对 2007 年为青少年、2017 年为年轻人的美国青少年进行的纵向研究，我发现经历逆境预示着与表现出消极行为的同伴的参与。然而，ACEs 的后果并非对每个人和每个结果都是相似的：（1）在最有可能经历逆境的贫困家庭中，经历逆境会影响到有帮派成员的同伴，但不会影响到其他结果。（2）在 ACEs 最不可能发生的最有利家庭中，只有 ACE 会预测成年同伴的常规药物使用。（3）在处于中间的家庭中，经历逆境预示着同伴的早期和 binge 饮酒。总之，它们表明复杂的社会过程和环境在 ACEs 的负面影响中起作用，本研究提出了一种方法来调查 ACEs 的影响根据一个人的社会背景可能有何不同。
