Type versus Timing of Adverse and Benevolent Childhood Experiences for Women’s Psychological and Reproductive Health

• In Event: 2-092 - Intergenerational Risk and Resilience: Continuity, Discontinuity, and Mechanisms of Transmission

Integrative Statement

While childhood adversity is associated with increased health concerns (Felitti et al., 1998), relationship problems (Narayan et al., 2013) and parenting difficulties (Belsky et al., 2009), positive childhood experiences are associated with more desirable lifespan and intergenerational outcomes (Masten, 2014). It is important to not only consider the presence or absence of early life adversity and positive experiences, but also their type and timing. While research has demonstrated that different types of childhood adversity (i.e., maltreatment versus family dysfunction), as well as their timing (e.g., in early childhood versus middle childhood versus adolescence) may have differential consequences (e.g., Narayan et al., 2017; Narayan et al. 2013), no studies have examined the timing of positive childhood experiences, and their unique contributions above different types and timing of childhood adversity, on long-term functioning. The present study examined type and timing of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and timing of benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs, a novel index of childhood resources; Narayan et al., 2018) in an ethnically diverse sample of pregnant women. Both type and timing of ACEs and timing of BCEs were hypothesized to predict levels of psychopathology, stress, and risky reproductive planning.

Participants were 101 pregnant women (M = 29.10 years, SD = 6.56, range = 18-44; 37% Latina, 22% African American, 20% White, 13% biracial/multiracial, 8% other) planning to deliver their babies at an urban county hospital serving low-income families. Participants completed the ACEs questionnaire for childhood maltreatment versus family dysfunction experiences and the BCEs scale, a new, culturally sensitive measure of positive childhood relationships and resources (Narayan et al., 2018). For both the ACEs and BCEs scales, participants also reported the age or range of ages during which experiences occurred. Developmental timing variables were computed by collapsing endorsed experiences across early childhood (0-5 years), middle childhood (6-12 years), and adolescence (13-18 years). Participants also completed assessments of prenatal depression and PTSD symptoms, stressful life events (SLEs) during pregnancy, and risky reproductive planning (i.e., lifetime unwanted, unplanned, and teen pregnancies).

Separate regressions for timing were conducted that compared ACEs (maltreatment versus family dysfunction experiences) and BCEs in early childhood versus middle childhood versus adolescence for each of the four outcomes. Regression analyses showed that after controlling for covariates, higher levels of maltreatment ACEs, but not family dysfunction ACEs nor BCEs, predicted higher levels of prenatal PTSD symptoms. Alternatively, higher levels of BCEs and lower levels of family dysfunction ACEs, but not maltreatment ACEs, significantly predicted lower levels of prenatal SLEs. Higher levels of BCEs predicted lower levels of risky reproductive planning, but neither type of ACEs were significant. Neither type of ACEs nor BCEs predicted prenatal depression symptoms.

Findings reveal that ACEs type versus BCEs differentially predict PTSD symptoms, SLEs, and risky reproductive planning by type, rather than developmental timing of these experiences in early childhood, middle childhood or adolescence. In other words, all models showed similar predictive patterns regardless of developmental period. Type rather than timing of childhood experiences predicts pregnant women’s psychological health, stress exposure, and risky reproductive planning.

Authors

• Jillian S. Merrick, University of Denver
  Presenting Author

• Angela J. Narayan, University of Denver
  Non-Presenting Author

• Victoria Atzl, University of Denver
  Non-Presenting Author

• Luisa Rivera, Emory University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alicia F. Lieberman, University of California, San Francisco
  Non-Presenting Author