Examining the Associations between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Health Risk Behaviours, and Psychological Well-Being in a Convenience Sample of Lithuanian University Students

Ilona Laurinaitytė, Luciana C. Assini-Meytin and Ksenija Čunichina
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Ilona Laurinaitytė: Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, 01513 Vilnius, Lithuania
Luciana C. Assini-Meytin: Mental Health Faculty, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Ksenija Čunichina: Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, 01513 Vilnius, Lithuania

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: This study examines the associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), health risk behaviours, and psychological well-being among Lithuanian university students. A cross-sectional survey was carried out with a convenience sample of 393 students (80.7% females and 19.3% males) recruited from mostly undergraduate courses (96.4%) in Lithuanian universities. Participants, aged 18–25 years (21.07 ± 1.53), completed a web-based survey in which they were asked to retrospectively self-report on ACEs while answering questions on health risk behaviours (e.g., smoking, substance use, riding a car with a drunk driver) and psychological well-being. Only 8.7% of the study sample experienced no ACEs, and almost half of the sample (48.9%) experienced ≥4 ACEs. Findings from adjusted models showed that, compared with students with no ACEs, those who experienced ≥4 ACEs had higher odds of lifetime illicit drug use (AOR = 2.73, p < 0.05), riding with a drunk driver (AOR = 2.44, p < 0.05), suicidal ideation before age 18 (AOR = 28.49, p < 0.01) and in the past 12 months (AOR = 5.39, p < 0.01). An increased number of ACEs was also associated with lower psychological well-being ( B = −3.94, p < 0.001). Findings from this study have implications for mental health professionals as well as university administrators, as students with a higher number of traumatic experiences may require greater levels of support and services.

Keywords: adverse childhood experiences; health risk behaviour; psychological well-being; university students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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