Peer-reviewed article
Residential Mobility, Housing Instability, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and the Moderating Role of Neighborhood Contexts.
Yoo J, Fisher S, Kim J ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how frequently moving homes affects children's exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) using national survey data from the United States. The research found that children who move frequently face more than double the risk of experiencing ACEs, while economic hardship and family breakdown drive residential mobility. Supportive and safe neighborhoods reduce the harmful effects of frequent moves, suggesting that housing stability and community support are important for protecting children from adversity.
Key points
- All adverse childhood experiences significantly predict frequent residential moves, with parental divorce/separation showing the largest effect
- Economic hardship is a strong predictor of frequent residential mobility
- Frequent moves more than double children's risk of experiencing adverse childhood experiences
- Supportive and safe neighborhoods provide protective benefits and mitigate the negative effects of housing instability
- Food or cash assistance is associated with higher mobility but moderates the relationship between economic hardship and moving
Limitations
This study is cross-sectional, so it cannot definitively establish causal direction between housing instability and ACEs or determine whether observed associations reflect unmeasured confounding. The analysis relies on self-reported data from the National Survey of Children's Health and cannot capture mechanisms through which neighborhood factors operate.
Abstract
Housing instability, particularly frequent residential moves, has been associated with poor developmental outcomes, yet its relationship with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) remains insufficiently understood at the national level. This study addresses this gap by investigating how frequent moves shape children's exposure to ACEs, and whether community and household contexts influence these effects. Using the 2020-2021 National Survey of Children's Health data, we ask two questions: (1) Do children who experience frequent moves face greater risk of ACEs? and (2) Do neighborhood and metropolitan contexts mitigate or exacerbate this association? Our contribution is twofold. First, we examine both directions of the relationship: how ACEs predict frequent moves and how frequent moves increase ACE exposure. Second, we incorporate contextual moderators, including supportive neighborhoods, safety, amenities, and urban residence, to provide a more nuanced account of how environments shape resilience or vulnerability. Using logistic and negative binomial regression models, we find that all ACEs significantly predict frequent moves, with parental divorce/separation showing the largest effect. Economic hardship is also a strong predictor of frequent residential mobility, and while food or cash assistance is associated with higher mobility, it moderates the hardship-mobility association. Supportive neighborhoods are associated with lower odds of moving. In turn, frequent moves more than double children's risk of ACEs. Supportive and safe neighborhoods provide protective benefits, while detracting elements exacerbate adversity. We conclude that reducing frequent moves and strengthening neighborhood supports are critical strategies for mitigating childhood adversity.