Adverse Childhood Experiences and Frequent Headaches in Adults
Abstract
Background A variety of studies have linked childhood maltreatment to headaches, including migraines, and to headache severity. This study assesses the relationship of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to frequent headaches during adulthood. Methods We used data from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study, which included 17,337 adult members of the Kaiser Health Plan in San Diego, CA who were undergoing a comprehensive preventive medical evaluation. The study assessed 8 ACEs including abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), witnessing domestic violence, growing up with mentally ill, substance abusing, or criminal household members, and parental separation or divorce. Our measure of headaches came from the medical review of systems using the question: "Are you troubled by frequent headaches?" We used the number of ACEs (ACE score) as a measure of cumulative childhood stress and hypothesized a "dose-response" relationship of the ACE score to the prevalence and risk of frequent headaches. Results Each of the ACEs was associated with an increased prevalence and risk of frequent headaches. As the ACE score increased the prevalence and risk of frequent headaches increased in a "dose-response" fashion. The risk of frequent headaches increased more than 2-fold (odds ratio 2.1, 95% confidence interval 1.8-2.4) in persons with an ACE score ≥5, compared to persons with and ACE score of 0. The dose-response relationship of the ACE score to frequent headaches was seen for both men…
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Adults who had witnessed domestic violence during childhood were 1.3 times more likely to report frequent headaches than those who had not witnessed domestic violence.
“Further research on the impact of adverse childhood experiences on adults revealed that those who had witnessed domestic violence during childhood were 1.3 times more likely to report frequent headaches than those who had not witnessed domestic violence (Anda et al., 2010).”
From A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON THE IMPACT OF EXPOSURE TO INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH (2014) · cites this paper as Anda et al., 2010
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“quent headaches in the current study suggest a possible causal relationship.(17) There are mounting biological data that childhood stress can affect numerous brain structures and functions, which contribute to the credibility of this theory.”
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New Appendix Criteria Open for a Broader Concept of Chronic Migraine
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Self-citationAdverse childhood experiences and prescribed psychotropic medications in adults
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“3 times more likely to report frequent headaches than those who had not witnessed domestic violence (Anda et al., 2010).”
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- Authors
- Anda, R., Tietjen, G., Schulman, E., Felitti, V., & Croft, J.
- Venue
- Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-10
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1473-1481
- ISSN
- 0017-8748 (ISSN-L)
- 1526-4610
- OpenAlex
- W1930346527
- Cited by
- 277
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 5.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Headache The Journal of Head and Face Pain (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Migraine and Headache Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Traumatic Brain Injury Research
- Keywords
- adverse childhood experiences, frequent headache, child abuse, dose-response relationship, migraine, ACE score, domestic violence exposure, parental separation
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child, Child Abuse, Female, Humans, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Time, Comorbidity, Prevalence, Headache Disorders, Secondary
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