31: How are Adverse Childhood Experiences Associated with Mental Health for Adolescents in Baltimore?

Music City Center 

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) disproportionately occur among adolescents from under-resourced communities. Further, ACEs are associated with increased prevalence of mental health disorders in adolescence, such as depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress. It is unclear, however, how ACEs are differentially experienced by boys and girls, and, in turn, how these experiences might impact mental health symptoms. We will use baseline data from a larger study - a randomized controlled trial of a trauma-informed mindfulness intervention for 8th graders in Baltimore City, Maryland (n=615; 74% Black, 54% female) - to analyze differences between boys' and girls' experience of both individual and cumulative ACEs. We will also conduct analyses to associate high-occuring ACEs in our sample (e.g., parental incarceration) with adolescents' depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress symptoms, again looking at boys and girls experiences separately. This analysis will help develop a more nuanced understanding of Adverse Childhood Experiences which could help inform future interventions.

data analysis

analysis by a high schooler

adolescent mental health

adverse childhood experiences 

Mental Health Statistics Section