Developmental Patterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Current Symptoms and Impairment in Youth Referred For Trauma-Specific Services
Abstract
By the time children reach adolescence, most have experienced at least one type of severe adversity and many have been exposed to multiple types. However, whether patterns of adverse childhood experiences are consistent or change across developmental epochs in childhood is not known. Retrospective reports of adverse potentially traumatic childhood experiences in 3 distinct developmental epochs (early childhood, 0- to 5-years-old; middle childhood, 6- to 12-years-old; and adolescence, 13- to 18-years-old) were obtained from adolescents (N = 3485) referred to providers in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) for trauma-focused assessment and treatment. Results from latent class analysis (LCA) revealed increasingly complex patterns of adverse/traumatic experiences in middle childhood and adolescence compared to early childhood. Depending upon the specific developmental epoch assessed, different patterns of adverse/traumatic experiences were associated with gender and with adolescent psychopathology (e.g., internalizing/externalizing behavior problems), and juvenile justice involvement. A multiply exposed subgroup that had severe problems in adolescence was evident in each of the 3 epochs, but their specific types of adverse/traumatic experiences differed depending upon the developmental epoch. Implications for research and clinical practice are identified.
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A study with trauma-exposed children identified a sub-group representing 15% of the sample who had experienced sexual abuse or assault between ages 6 and 12 years old but rarely any other type of victimization.
“A study with trauma-exposed children also identified a sub-group representing 15% of the sample who had experienced sexual abuse or assault between ages 6 and 12 years old but rarely any other type of victimization--whereas sexual abuse tended to occur in combination with other forms of abuse and victimization both earlier in childhood and in adolescence [57].”
From Complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder (2021) · cites this paper as [57]
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- Authors
- Grasso, D. J., Dierkhising, C. B., Branson, C. E., Ford, J. D., & Lee, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Connecticut (US)
- California State University Los Angeles (US)
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
- Duke University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Grasso, Damion J.
- Venue
- Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
- Published
- 2015-10-06
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 871-886
- ISSN
- 0091-0627 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-2835
- OpenAlex
- W1871813620
- Cited by
- 154
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 11.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- Center for Mental Health Services
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- adverse childhood experiences, developmental patterns, childhood trauma, multiple exposures, adolescent psychopathology, internalizing problems, externalizing problems, juvenile justice involvement, gender differences, National Child Traumatic Stress Network, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Age Factors, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Stress, Psychological, Adolescent Development
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