Do Adverse Childhood Experiences Hurt Blacks Worse Than Whites? Race, Family Environments, and Health

• In Event: 590 - Regular Session. Health and Well-Being

Abstract

This study is the first to examine racially heterogeneous associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the family environment and adult physical health. Using data from 45,892 U.S. white and black adults from the 2009-2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, we found not only that blacks and whites experienced much different adverse events in childhood, but there are significant racial in associations between adverse events and adult health. First, the negative graded association between the breadth of exposure to ACEs (i.e., the cumulative number of ACEs) and adult self-rated health is stronger for whites than for blacks. Second, while the probability of being diagnosed with diabetes increases with each cumulative ACE among whites, blacks who experienced a high degree of ACEs during childhood (5+) actually have a much lower probability of a diabetes diagnosis than blacks who experienced no ACEs. Third, specific ACEs demonstrate different associations with self-rated health and diabetes for blacks vs. whites. The positive association between parental divorce and diabetes is much stronger for whites than for blacks, and while parental incarceration is associated with worse self-rated health for whites, it is associated with better self-rated health for blacks. Our results largely discount the applicability of cumulative disadvantage theory to racial differences in associations between ACEs and adult health. Indeed, one of our most important findings is that adverse childhood experiences have a stronger association with adult health among whites than among blacks, net of controls for various demographic, socioeconomic, mental health, and health lifestyle characteristics.

Authors

• Shannon M. Monnat, Pennsylvania State University

• Raeven Faye Chandler, Pennsylvania State University

• Kyler James Sherman-Wilkins, Pennsylvania State University