An Examination of Underlying Domains in Childhood Adversity: A Scoping Review of Studies Conducting Factor Analyses on Adverse Childhood Experiences

Keith Willoughby (), Serena Atallah, Kim Arbeau, Jenn Pearce, Thomas Ketelaars and Jeff St. Pierre
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Keith Willoughby: Child and Parent Resource Institute, 600 Sanatorium Road, London, ON N6H 3W7, Canada
Serena Atallah: Child and Parent Resource Institute, 600 Sanatorium Road, London, ON N6H 3W7, Canada
Kim Arbeau: Child and Parent Resource Institute, 600 Sanatorium Road, London, ON N6H 3W7, Canada
Jenn Pearce: Child and Parent Resource Institute, 600 Sanatorium Road, London, ON N6H 3W7, Canada
Thomas Ketelaars: Child and Parent Resource Institute, 600 Sanatorium Road, London, ON N6H 3W7, Canada
Jeff St. Pierre: Department of Psychology, Social Science Centre, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C2, Canada

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 11, 1-25

Abstract: There is an abundance of research linking experiences of childhood adversity to negative physical and mental health outcomes. Areas that remain to be explored and expanded upon include the ideal set of events for inclusion in measures of childhood adversity and testing the models of risk (e.g., cumulative, specificity, dimensional). In the current paper, we performed a scoping review to develop a comprehensive list of studies that conducted factor analyses of childhood adversity measures. There were 89 articles that met the inclusion criteria; trends in the underlying factor structures are reported. Highly associated yet distinct constructs of adversity have demonstrated empirical utility in predicting outcomes in dozens of studies, with consensus that physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical and emotional neglect, and household dysfunction offer important predictive value to understanding developmental mechanisms of change. We endorse revisions to one commonly used scale that could offer researchers a consistent and psychometrically robust measure of adversity.

Keywords: adverse childhood experiences; negative life events; factor analysis; childhood trauma questionnaire; scoping review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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