Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adolescent Delinquency in a High-Risk Sample

• Published date: 01 October 2018
• Date: 01 October 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1541204017735568
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Adverse Childhood Experiences

and Adolescent Delinquency

in a High-Risk Sample:

A Comparison of White

and Black Youth

Abigail A. Fagan

1

and Abigail Novak

1

Abstract

Research shows that adverse events experienced during childhood (i.e., adverse childhood

experiences [ACEs]) are problematic, but few studies have examined race differences in the pre-

valence and impact of ACEs on delinquency. This study investigated these relationships using pro-

spective data from approximately 600 high-risk families in the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse

and Neglect. Ten ACEs were measured, five types of child maltreatment and five types of household

dysfunction. White youth experienced a significantly greater number of ACEs (4.08) compared to

Black youth (2.90) and a greater prevalence of seven individual ACEs. According to logistic

regression analyses, the number of AC Es significantly increased the lik elihood of self-reported

alcohol use, marijuana use, violence (in some models), and arrest at age 16 among Blacks but not

Whites; race differences were statistically significant for alcohol use, marijuana use, and arrest. The

findings support the need for juvenile justice officials to recognize the trauma histories of youth

offenders when determining appropriate treatment and sanctions.

Keywords

adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), delinquency, substance use, race/ethnicity

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially stressful and/or traumatic events that can

lead to a variety of negative physical, mental, and behavioral health problems, including premature

death (Felitti et al., 1998; Sacks, Murphey, & Moore, 2014). Although ACEs have been defined

somewhat differently across studies (Felitti et al., 1998; Finkelhor, Shattuck, Turner, & Hamby,

2015; Flaherty et al., 2009), they include multiple types of maltreatment (e.g., physical, sexual, and

emotional abuse and neglect) and household dysfunction (e.g., intimate partner violence [IPV],

substance use/abuse, and criminality by parents or other household members).

1

Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Abigail A. Fagan, Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law, University of Florida, 3219 Turlington Hall, P.O.

Box 117330, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.

Email: afagan@ufl.edu

Youth Violence and JuvenileJustice

2018, Vol. 16(4) 395-417

ªThe Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/1541204017735568

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The first study to demonstrate the consequences of ACEs found that the greater the number of

seven types of childhood adversities recalled by a general population of adults in San Diego, the

greater their likelihood of reporting health problems including obesity, depression, suicide attempts,

alcoholism, illicit drug use, and sexually transmitted diseases (Felitti et al., 1998). The fact that

childhood events could have such a large and sustained impact on adult behaviors was a novel and

important research finding, as was the finding that ACEs were relatively common; more than half of

the sample had experienced at least one ACE in their lifetime (Felitti et al., 1998). National

surveillance data confirm this finding. According to the 2011/2012 National Survey of Children’s

Health, conducted with 95,677 parents from all 50 states, 46%of children had endured at least one

ACE and 11%had experienced three or more ACEs by age 18 (Sacks et al., 2014). Other research

indicates even greater exposure to ACEs among higher risk populations such as low-income indi-

viduals and youth involved in the juvenile justice system (B aglivio, Epps, et al., 2014; Burke,

Hellman, Scott, Weems, & Carrion, 2011; Cronholm et al., 2015; Flaherty et al., 2009).

Since the initial study by Felitti et al. (1998), other studies have also shown that an accumulation

of ACEs is associated with a greater likelihood of physical, mental, and/or behavioral health

problems in adulthood (Cronholm et al., 2015; Edwards, Holden, Felitti, & Anda, 2003; Mersky,

Topitzes, & Reynolds, 2013; Rothman, Edwards, Heeren, & Hingson, 2008). However, the mechan-

isms that link these childhood adversities to long-term health problems are not clear. Felitti and

colleagues (1998) hypothesized that ACEs lead to health-compromising behaviors in the short term

as a means of coping with adversities and that these behaviors negatively affect health in the long

term. Life-course developmental theories in criminology suggest similar processes, whereby ado-

lescent delinquency can lead to negative effects in later stages of the life course (e.g., via “snares,”

see Moffitt, 1993, or cumulative continuity, see Sampson & Laub, 1993), including premature death

(Teplin et al., 2014).

Although Felitti and colleagues (1998) posited that ACEs would increase risky behaviors like

substance use and delinquency during adolescence, few studies have tested this premise. Some

criminological research has shown that particular ACEs increase the likelihood of adolescent delin-

quency (e.g., parent criminality, see Farrington, Coid, & Murray, 2009, and physical abuse, see

Widom, 1989), but relatively few studies have investigated whether an accu mulation of ACEs

increases illegal behaviors by adolescents.

The purpose of the current study is to apply a criminological perspective to the examination of

ACEs by investigating the impact of ACEs on adolescent substance use, violence, and arrest. We

also examine race differences in the prevalence and effects of ACEs, a topic rarely explored in the

ACEs literature, but one that is important given race differences in rates of delinquency, including

substance use, violence, and contact with the justice system (Johnston, O’Malley, Miech, Bachman,

& Schulenberg, 2014; Puzzanchera, 2014; Sampson, Morenoff, & Raudenbush, 2005). Further

exploration of these issues can inform both the substantive literature and current initiatives calling

for trauma-informed services for juvenile delinquents (U.S. Attorney General’s National Task Force

on Children Exposed to Violence, 2012). Knowing more about the types of trauma experienced by

youth, the impact of these traumas on delinquency, and whether or not exposure to and influence of

ACEs varies by race can help ensure th at appropriate prevention and inte rvention services are

received by those most in need.

Literature Review

Theoretical Explanations of the Relationship Between ACEs and Adolescent Delinquency

Although few criminologists have examined the effects of ACEs, the hypothesis that childhood

maltreatment and dysfunctional households can increase the likelihood of health- compromising

396 Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 16(4)