Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Dr. April Hartman, Dr. Zachary Hodges, and MS4 Rachel Vaizer join the show to discuss adverse childhood experiences and screening for them in the pediatric clinic.

What are the key questions to ask?

What are adverse childhood experiences and how do they affect a child’s long-term health?

How do you bring up the concept of adverse childhood experiences with parents?

How do you screen for ACEs and what do we do with a positive screen at a clinic visit?

 

All of this and more from the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia.

Check out our website: https://www.augusta.edu/mcg/pediatrics/residency/podcast.php

Special thanks to Dr. Lisa Leggio and Dr. Christopher Drescher for providing peer review for this episode.

Citation:

Hodges, Z. (Host). Hartman, A. (Host). Vazier, R. (Host). Leggio, L. (Contributor). Drescher, C. (Contributor). (2020, October 15). Adverse Childhood Events. (S1:16) [Audio Podcast Episode]. MCG Pediatric Podcast. Medical College of Georgia Augusta.  

Questions, comments, or feedback? Please email us at mcgpediatricpodcast@augusta.edu

 

Resources from this episode:

• Screening Resources
  • Bright Futures Questionnaire: https://brightfutures.aap.org/materials-and-tools/tool-and-resource-kit/Pages/Medical-Screening-Reference-Tables.aspx
  • Pediatric ACEs and Related Life Events Screener (PEARLS) by Bay Area Research Consortium on Toxic Stress and Health: https://www.acesaware.org/screen/screening-tools/

 

• Community Resources
  • Big Brother/Big Sister: https://www.bbbs.org/
  • Boys and Girls Club: https://www.bgca.org/
  • Georgia Family Connection Partnership: https://gafcp.org/

 

• ACEs information
  • ACEs Aware: https://www.acesaware.org/
  • ACEs Aware Training Module: https://training.acesaware.org/
  • My GCAL: https://www.georgiacollaborative.com/providers/georgia-crisis-and-access-line-gcal/
  • SafeCare: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/preventing/prevention-programs/homevisit/homevisitprog/safe-care/

References for this episode:

Bucci, M., Marques, S. S., Oh, D., & Harris, N. B. (2016). Toxic stress in children and adolescents. Advances in Pediatrics, 63(1), 403-428.

Felitti V.J. Anda R.F. Nordenberg D. et al. Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study. Am J Prev Med. 1998; 14: 245-258 

Garner AS, Shonkoff JP, Siegel, B. S., Dobbins, M. I., Earls, M. F., McGuinn, L., Pascoe, J., & Wood, D. L; Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health; Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care; Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. Early childhood adversity, toxic stress, and the role of the pediatrician: translating developmental science into lifelong health. Pediatrics. 2012;129(1):e224-e231. doi:10.1542/peds.2011-2662 

Harris, N. B., Marques, S. S., Oh, D., Bucci, M., & Cloutier, M. (2017). Prevent, screen, heal: collective action to fight the toxic effects of early life adversity. Academic pediatrics, 17(7), S14-S15.  

Kerker B.D. Storfer-Isser A. Szilagyi M. et al. Do pediatricians ask about adverse childhood experiences in pediatric primary care?. Acad Pediatr. 2016; 16: 154-160 

Marie-Mitchell, A., Studer, K. R., & O'Connor, T. G. (2016). How knowledge of adverse childhood experiences can help pediatricians prevent mental health problems. Families, Systems, & Health, 34(2), 128. 

Oh, D. L., Jerman, P., Marques, S. S., Koita, K., Boparai, S. K. P., Harris, N. B., & Bucci, M. (2018). Systematic review of pediatric health outcomes associated with childhood adversity. BMC pediatrics, 18(1), 83.  

Shonkoff JP, Garner AS; Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health; Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care; Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics. 2012;129(1):e232-e246. doi:10.1542/peds.2011-2663 

Vu, C., Rothman, E., Kistin, C. J., Barton, K., Bulman, B., Budzak-Garza, A., ... & Bair-Merritt, M. H. (2017). Adapting the patient-centered medical home to address psychosocial adversity: results of a qualitative study. Academic pediatrics, 17(7), S115-S122. 

Wolraich ML, Hagan JF Jr, Allan C, et al. Clinical Practice Guideline for the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents [published correction appears in Pediatrics. 2020 Mar;145(3):]. Pediatrics. 2019;144(4):e20192528. doi:10.1542/peds.2019-2528 

 

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention. (2020, April). Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/fastfact.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fviolenceprevention%2Fchildabuseandneglect%2Faces%2Ffastfact.html