Childhood experiences that are traumatic and stressful are recognized to cause lingering negative health consequences in later life according to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Officials from the public health department in Alaska have come up with what they claim is the first complete account of the frequency of what is commonly referred to as negative childhood experiences known as ACEs. The data is contained in an 89-page bulletin recently released by the department of epidemiology at the Alaska Division of Public Health. The bulletin provides the results of various studies and surveys conducted in recent years in a format that could allow health officials to keep track of trends for the near future.
Childhood experiences that are negative can be varied and range from normal events such as divorce of parents to more extreme events like witnessing violence or even death within families. Childhood traumas that are negative can also be financial strains, like housing and financial difficulties. A few of these experiences during childhood are viewed as neglect or abuse.
Because of the different methods or metrics to use, diverse types of data presented in the bulletin are not able to be and compared to one another according to Jared Parrish, a senior state epidemiologist.
“There is no single definition of what constitutes ACEs and which variables are included as well as, so every data set that we have looked at in this report is a distinct mixture of variables present,” Parrish said. “But in each data set, we can learn something.”
The most significant lesson is the fact that, over the last decade, the proportion of children who have experienced these negative incidents has remained relatively steady, as per the data in the report on epidemiology.
One data set, which tracked 13 different types of adverse experiences that occurred between the years 2012 to 2020 revealed that 47 percent of Alaska three-year-olds experienced at least one negative childhood experience during their lives and 9 percent had at least four adverse experiences according to the report.
Another dataset that looked at eight childhood traumas that were traumatic for children from 2016 showed that 41 percent of Alaska youngsters aged 17 or younger have had at least one experience the experience, a figure that is consistent with the national averages based on identical data sources.
The information in the report is applicable to adults as well.
The data within the study, which was compiled between 2013 and 2015 and based on eight negative childhood experiences, showed that nearly two-thirds Alaska adults had experienced at least one of these experiences during their childhood, and 20 percent were able to report experiencing more than four. Another collection of data, dating back to 2020, also examined eight negative childhood experiences, however, it was only among Alaska women. It found that more than eight in ten had experienced at least one negative experience in their childhood, and around a third reported having at least four.
There are many ways negative childhood experiences can result in poor health later in life, officials claimed.
“As events that cause trauma occur during a child’s lifetime these experiences can create stress levels,” said Riley Fitting an epidemiologist from the state who was a contributor to the bulletin. “Whether they happen only once or repeatedly the stress can build up to what’s known as”toxic stress” or “toxic stress load. This toxic stress load is linked with poor health outcomes in adulthood.”
Apart from causing mental health impacts such as anxiety and depression and behavioral issues like alcohol abuse Stress can diminish the overall health that the body is in, Parrish said. A habit of self-control such as smoking cigarettes smoking, for instance can result in heart cancer and other diseases as he explained. Even if you don’t have any harmful habits, stress may make people’s bodies operate in a state of “hyper-awareness” which will eventually result in chronic physical ailments according to him.
The bulletin on epidemiology contains possible positive signals regarding Alaska children’s health. The proportion of Alaska three-year-olds who have not had any negative childhood experiences has risen in the past as per the information that were compiled within the study.
An effort is underway to assist Alaska parents and children avoid these events or overcome them stated Emily Urlacher, a state public health specialist in early elementary education.
The most crucial element of this task is Anchorage’s Head Start and associated Pre-Head Start program, she explained.
“Instead of sending kids to an institution that they can learn as a child, we provide support to the entire family,” Urlacher said. “You must remember that when in partnership with family members, when the child and family are together as a couple. If you’re trying to help the child, then you must to help the entire family. That’s why Head Start does that.”
The funding to fund Head Start programs has been the topic of debate but. In the past the governor. Mike Dunleavy vetoed $2.5 million out of the five million dollars that Alaska Legislature had approved in an increase in Head Start funding that would be matched by federal funds.
Alongside Head Start, the department also promotes and expands its home-visiting program that send parents-educators as well as nurses into families in their homes or at other locations to offer support, Urlacher said. “It’s such programs which are crucial in bringing people together and breaking the cycle of generational resentment,” she said.
The story first was published in Alaska Beacon is republished here with permission.
