TY - JOUR
T1 - Examining patterns of adversity in Chinese young adults using the Adverse Childhood Experiences—International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ)
AU - Ho, Grace W.K.
AU - Chan, Athena C.Y.
AU - Chien, Wai Tong
AU - Bressington, Daniel T.
AU - Karatzias, Thanos
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Internal Start-Up Fund .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/2
Y1 - 2019/2
N2 - Ample evidence supports significant and enduring associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and negative outcomes later in life. Subsets of ACEs (e.g. childhood maltreatment and household dysfunction) have been examined in Chinese populations, but no known study has comprehensively examined the full constellation of different types of ACEs or patterns of ACE exposure in Chinese samples. As a direct response to the call to establish a global ACEs surveillance framework, this study provides the first translation and validation of the World Health Organization ACE – International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ). Further, patterns of ACE exposure were identified through latent class analysis. The 29-item ACE-IQ was translated and back-translated from English to traditional Chinese to measure exposure to 13 categories of ACEs. The Chinese ACE-IQ demonstrated good content validity; the ACE-IQ domain subscales also showed satisfactory test-retest reliability and semantic equivalence. In a sample of 433 Chinese young adults, three patterns of ACE exposure were uncovered: Low ACEs (65.82%), Household Violence (24.94%), and Multiple ACEs (9.24%). Concurrent exposure to physical abuse, domestic violence, and emotional abuse (i.e. Household Violence) was a novel pattern found in this study sample, and suggests there may be traditional Chinese norms that potentiate risks for violent household environments in the absence of other household risk factors. Findings underscore the importance of examining ACE exposure within local contexts, as children's adverse experiences may be idiosyncratic to geographic, social, and cultural norms.
AB - Ample evidence supports significant and enduring associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and negative outcomes later in life. Subsets of ACEs (e.g. childhood maltreatment and household dysfunction) have been examined in Chinese populations, but no known study has comprehensively examined the full constellation of different types of ACEs or patterns of ACE exposure in Chinese samples. As a direct response to the call to establish a global ACEs surveillance framework, this study provides the first translation and validation of the World Health Organization ACE – International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ). Further, patterns of ACE exposure were identified through latent class analysis. The 29-item ACE-IQ was translated and back-translated from English to traditional Chinese to measure exposure to 13 categories of ACEs. The Chinese ACE-IQ demonstrated good content validity; the ACE-IQ domain subscales also showed satisfactory test-retest reliability and semantic equivalence. In a sample of 433 Chinese young adults, three patterns of ACE exposure were uncovered: Low ACEs (65.82%), Household Violence (24.94%), and Multiple ACEs (9.24%). Concurrent exposure to physical abuse, domestic violence, and emotional abuse (i.e. Household Violence) was a novel pattern found in this study sample, and suggests there may be traditional Chinese norms that potentiate risks for violent household environments in the absence of other household risk factors. Findings underscore the importance of examining ACE exposure within local contexts, as children's adverse experiences may be idiosyncratic to geographic, social, and cultural norms.
KW - Adverse childhood experiences
KW - Adverse Childhood Experiences - International Questionnaire
KW - Latent class analysis
KW - Psychometric evaluation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85057470537&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.11.009
DO - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.11.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 30513406
AN - SCOPUS:85057470537
SN - 0145-2134
VL - 88
SP - 179
EP - 188
JO - Child Abuse and Neglect
JF - Child Abuse and Neglect
ER -