Gender differences in early adverse childhood experiences and youth psychological distress

Purpose Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are linked to problematic outcomes across the life course, but it is unclear how ACEs affect psychological distress in adolescence and if this relationship varies by gender. The purposes of this paper are two-fold. First, we explore how the accumulation, timing, and duration of early ACEs influences youth psychological distress. Second, we explore how these patterns may vary by gender. Methods Generalized Linear Models (GLM) were based on data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW), a national sample of urban-born, mostly at-risk youth. Results Findings indicate that as the number of early ACEs (by age 5) incrementally increases, youth internalized and externalized psychological distress also increases, even after adjusting for recent adversity. Moreover, early ACEs that are intermittent or chronically high significantly increase youth internalized and externalized psychological distress. Our results also indicate that ACEs (by age 5) are related to psychological distress differently for boys and girls, with ACEs being related to both internalized and externalized psychological distress for boys, while ACEs were mainly related to externalized distress for girls. Conclusions This study highlights the importance of early ACEs in youth psychological distress and the importance of considering gender in these relationships.