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The problem
Intervention: Life-course analysis of the timing and patterns of ACE exposure (interpersonal trauma) during different childhood periods (0-5, 5-11, 11-17 years) and their relationship to mental health outcomes
Who it was tested with: Children in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a UK birth cohort, assessed for ACEs and mental health outcomes (depression and anxiety) at ages 17 and 24.
Children or communities are compared with a group that did not receive the intervention, or followed over years. This is the design that best separates what the intervention did from everything else that changed.
"We analysed longitudinal data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) in the UK to determine the best-fitting life-course models between ACEs and mental health outcomes (depression and anxiety) at 17 and 24 years, using a Structured Life Course Modelling Approach." This longitudinal design with measured outcomes at multiple time-points and structured comparison of competing theoretical models provides robust evidence for the timing of ACE effects on mental health.
Cannot distinguish between 'critical period' effects and 'recency' effects; analysis of individual ACEs was limited by their relative rarity and tendency to correlate over time; findings are specific to UK birth cohort and may not generalise to other populations
Across countries and designs
1 study · 1 country
