Adverse Childhood Experiences and Low Socioeconomic Position in Finland: The Cumulative Nature of Vulnerabilities

• In Event: Poverty and Structural Inequalities Panel

Abstract

Both adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and low socioeconomic position (SEP) are recognized as risk factors for various adverse outcomes in adulthood. Although both ACEs and low SEP constitute their own fields of literature, there is a lot of evidence connecting these factors. There are studies that interpret indicators of low SEP as part of ACEs and studies that rather suggest a moderating effect of low SEP between ACEs and adverse outcomes. The interconnectedness has become especially relevant as some studies suggest that the disparity between those with the most and least adversities has widened over time. However, existing longitudinal research consists mainly of single-cohort designs, which are unable to capture the impact of history and societal change.

Our analysis contributes to the discussion by investigating the associations between low childhood SEP and household dysfunction-related ACEs, based on longitudinal Finnish register data. Register data is drawn from national police, healthcare and social security registers concerning individuals in all birth cohorts between 1980 and 2005, followed until 2020. We analyze the prevalence of ACEs (parental substance abuse, parental mental illness, parental incarceration, and domestic violence) in low SEP families, defined as those in which at least one parent has two or more of the following: low level of education, long-term unemployment, and long-term use of social assistance. We focus on children under the age of 10 to examine how low SEP and ACEs accumulate in same individuals and how this has changed across successive birth cohorts over the past decades. The results will be presented at the conference.

Authors

• Hanne Lamberg, Tampere University

• Noora Ellonen, Research director

• Laura Mielityinen, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University

• Taina Laajasalo, Finnish Institute for Health and Wellfare

• Pekka Martikainen, Population Research Unit, University of Helsinki, Finland