Gender Differences in the Accumulation, Timing, and Duration of Childhood Adverse Experiences and Youth Delinquency in Fragile Families

• Date: 01 February 2022
• DOI: 10.1177/00224278211003227
• Published date: 01 February 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

Original Research Article

Gender Differences in

the Accumulation,

Timing, and Duration

of Childhood Adverse

Experiences and

Youth Delinquency in

Fragile Families

Hayley Pierce

1

and Melissa S. Jones

1

Abstract

Objective: The purposes of this study are twofold. First, we explore how the

accumulation, timing, and duration of ACEs influences youth delinquency.

Second, because few studies to date have examined how the effect of ACEs

may vary among different groups, we explore how these patterns may vary

by gender. Methods: Analyses were based on data from the Fragile Families

and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW), which employs a national sample of

urban-born, at-risk youth. Results: The results showed that as the number of

early ACEs experienced incrementally increases, the likelihood of youth

reporting delinquent behavior also increases, even after adjusting for recent

adversity. Moreover, exposure to early ACEs that are high but late, inter-

mittent, or chronically high significantly increase the risk of youth partici-

pating in delinquency. Our results also indicate that ACEs are significantly

1

Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA

Corresponding Author:

Hayley Pierce, Brigham Young University, 2036 JFSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA.

Email: hayley_pierce@byu.edu

Journal of Research in Crime and

Delinquency

ªThe Author(s) 2021

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/00224278211003227

journals.sagepub.com/home/jrc

2022, Vol. 59(1) 3–43

related to delinquency for girls, but not for boys. Conclusions: Prevention and

intervention efforts should screen for ACEs—especially in early childhood.

Given that the accumulation, timing, and duration of ACE exposure is linked

to youth delinquency, interventions that target ACEs early may have

greater success at reducing delinquency. Moreover, prevention programs

need to consider gender-specific responses to ACEs and gender-specific

intervention strategies.

Keywords

adverse childhood experiences, gender, delinquency, youth

Extensive research has documented the detrimental impact of exposure to

adverse childhood experiences (ACEs ) on children’s present and future

health and behavioral outcomes (Anda et al. 2006; Dube et al. 2003,

2006; Felitti et al. 1998; Merrick et al. 2018). ACEs include abuse, neglect,

and household dysfunction in childhood, family mental health, domestic

violence, and family criminal behavior (Felitti et al. 1998). Recent evidence

suggests that exposure to ACEs is quite common, with nearly two thirds of

adult samples reporting exposure to at least one ACE and 25 percent report-

ing exposure to three or more distinctive types of ACEs (Merrick et al.

2018). Studies have shown that high exposure to ACEs in childhood is

related to health-risk behaviors, including substance use, violence, and

crime in adolescence and adulthood (Anda et al. 1999; Baglivio et al.

2015; Craig et al. 2017;Moylan et al. 2010). While the effects of ACEs have

received considerable attention from scholars, few studies have examined

how the developmental timing of ACEs or duration of exposure may con-

tribute to you th delinquency (s ee Jones and Pi erce 2020). Mor eover, ques-

tions remain as to how ACEsaffect outcomes by gender. Understandinghow

responses to ACEs may differ for males and females can have significant

policy implications for trauma prevention and intervention efforts. Specifi-

cally, the current study can help provide a deeper understanding of how

gender may shapethe relationship between ACEexposure in early childhood

(i.e., accumulation, timing, and duration) and youth delinquency.

Scholars that have examined the timing and duration of ACEs in child-

hood have found that severe and persistent adversity very early in life

is associated with an array of health, psychiatric and behavioral problems

in adolescence and adulthood (Ackerman, Brown, and Izard 2004;

4Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 59(1)

Dierkhising et al. 2019; McKelvey, Selig, and Whiteside-Mansell 2017;

Schroeder, Slopen, and Mittal 2020). The few studies examining gender

differences suggest that exposure to ACEs is different for boys and girls

(Baglivio et al. 2014, 2015) and the repercussion of ACEs vary by gender

(Duke et al. 2010; Leban and Gibson 2020). These findings are consistent

with studies done in criminology on gender differences in risk factors

associated with delinquency. For example, studies have shown that girls

and boys differ in degree of exposure to risk factors and the strength of the

association between risk factors and delinquency (Broidy and Agnew 1997;

Kroneman, Loeber, and Hipwell 2004; Steffensmeier and Allan 1996;

Teague et al. 2008). This body of literature highlights the potential impor-

tance of gender when it comes to understanding the consequences of ACEs

across the life course. Thus, further research is needed to explore the

mechanisms and processes underlying the relationship between gender,

ACEs, and youth delinquency. The current study addresses this gap in the

literature by using data from the Fragi le Families and Child Wellbeing

Study (FFCW), a national urban birth cohort, to critically examine how the

accumulation, timing, and duration of ACEs in early childhood may be

associated with youth delinquent behavior. Our study explores whether

these relationships are different for boys and girls.

Background

The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, a collaboration between

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente’s

Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego, is one of the largest research endea-

vors ever conducted to understand the relationships between childhood

adversity and adult health (Center for Disease Control and Prevention

2013). In their seminal ACE study, Felitti et al. (1998) examined seven

ACEs: three categories of child maltreatment (psychological, physical, and

sexual abuse) and four categories of household dysfunction (mother treated

violently, living with household members who were substance abusers,

mentally ill or suicidal, or ever imprisoned). Those who reported exposure

to more types of these ACEs were found to have a greater variety of health

problems in adulthood (e.g., alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, suicide

attempt, smoking, poor self-rated health). Since the original study, subse-

quent ACE studies have incorporated neglect and parental separation or

divorce into the ACE index. Two main themes have emerged from ACE

Pierce and Jones 5