Adverse Childhood Experiences and Suicidal Behaviors Among Youth: The Buffering Influence of Family Communication and School Connectedness

Lensch, Taylor; Clements-Nolle, Kristen; Oman, Roy F.; Evans, William; Lu, Minggen; Yang, Wei

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.08.024

Cited by 26 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…For females in particular, having an adult outside of school to confide in had a robust protective association for attempt. These findings are consistent with other studies demonstrating the positive impact of family and school support in mitigating STB for adolescents (Lensch et al, 2021 ; Miller et al, 2015 ; Reed et al, 2016 ), including the aforementioned studies of STB in older children by Janiri and colleagues ( 2020 ) and Deville and colleagues ( 2020 ). They also corroborate findings by Logan and colleagues ( 2011 ) regarding the particularly protective association parental connectedness has for early adolescent females.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Maryland Middle School Students

Flores

Stuart

Swartz³

et al. 2022

School Mental Health

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The aim of this study was to identify independent risk and protective factors associated with self-reported suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) among young adolescents by examining self-report data on mental health, substance abuse, violence involvement, social and economic challenges and supports, physical health and demographics in relation to STB. Data from nearly 27,000 students who completed the 2018-19 Maryland Middle School Youth Risk Behavior Survey/Youth Tobacco Survey (YRBS/YTS) were used to identify independent risk and protective factors associated with STB among middle school students (grades 6–8; ages 11-14). Twenty-three percent of students reported lifetime suicidal ideation and nine percent reported lifetime attempt(s). Independent risk factors associated with STB include depression, substance abuse or misuse, violence involvement, bullying victimization at school or electronically, sexual activity, and sleep deprivation. Protective factors include having an adult outside of school to confide in and feeling that teachers care and provide encouragement. Interactive effects by gender and/or race/ethnicity were observed for some factors in relation to STB. These results suggest that evidence-based programs and policies at the universal and selective/indicated levels in school settings are needed and should be introduced earlier on to address the widespread prevalence of STB in young adolescents. Program planners should take into consideration social, cultural and language needs when implementing and developing intervention strategies. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12310-022-09521-6.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Maryland Middle School Students

Flores

Stuart

Swartz³

et al. 2022

School Mental Health

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“…In addition, this research examined whether self‐worth and social support protect against the adverse effects of community violence exposure whereas much of the prior research examining each has focused on promotive effects and not considered these factors in the context of a stressor. As a recent exception, Lensch et al (2021) found that family communication and school connectedness each buffered the negative effects of adverse life events on suicidal ideation and behaviors among middle and high schoolers; however, the adverse life events did not include community violence exposure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protective factors for suicidal ideation among Black adolescents indirectly exposed to community violence

Lambert

Boyd

Ialongo

2022

Suicide & Life Threat Behav

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Objective Community violence exposure has been identified as a risk factor for Black youth suicide ideation. However, little is known about factors that protect community violence exposed youth against suicide ideation. The current study examined associations between knowledge of family member and peers’ community violence exposure and Black youth's subsequent suicidal ideation, and investigated self‐worth and social support as protective factors. Method Participants were a community sample of Black youth (N = 447, 47.4% female; Mage = 11.77, SD = 0.35) who reported about community violence exposure, self‐worth, social support, and suicide ideation in grades 6 and 7. Results Regression analyses revealed that grade 6 knowledge of family member and peers’ community violence exposure was associated with increases in suicide ideation assessed in grade 7. Self‐worth attenuated the association between knowledge of others’ community violence exposure and suicide ideation for male adolescents. For female adolescents, social support attenuated the association between knowledge of others’ community violence and suicide ideation. Conclusions Findings highlight the consequential impact of knowledge about community violence for Black youth's suicidal ideation. Enhancing protective factors for Black youth is an important target for intervening with exposure to violence and reducing suicide ideation.

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“…We used eight Wave 1 survey items to assess exposure to ACEs, which are broadly aligned with the core ACEs constructs included in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) ACEs module (Merrick et al, 2019 ), and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS; Anderson et al, 2022 ). Similar ACEs questions have been used in other research involving adolescents (Clements-Nolle et al, 2018 ; Lensch et al, 2021 ). For this study, each adolescent respondent identified whether they experienced any of the following at any point since they were born: (1) physical abuse by any perpetrator; (2) emotional abuse by a household member; (3) sexual violence by any perpetrator; (4) witnessing intimate partner violence; (5) parental divorce; (6) family member serving time in jail; (7) family member with a mental health condition; (8) family member with a substance use problem.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, individuals who have ACEs have higher rates of anxiety and depression symptoms (Sheffler et al, 2020 ), and a cumulative dose–response relationship exists between the number of ACEs and lifetime prevalence of depressive disorders (Clements-Nolle et al, 2018 ; LeMoult et al, 2020 ; Merrick et al, 2019 ). Exposure to ACEs may also exacerbate inequities in health, social, and economic outcomes across generations (Dominguez & Brown, 2022 ; Lensch et al, 2021 ; Shonkoff et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Risk For Children and Adolescents During And After Public He...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Pandemic-Related Stress and the Impact on Adolescent Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Verlenden

Kaczkowski

et al. 2022

Journ Child Adol Trauma

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Vulnerabilities of adolescents during times of crisis have been previously identified, but little research has investigated the compounding effects of lifetime adversities and pandemic-related stress on adolescent mental health. This study uses adolescent self-report data to model relationships between stress exposures and indicators of poor mental health from the longitudinal COVID Experiences (CovEx) Surveys. These surveys were administered online in English to U.S. adolescents ages 13–19 using the NORC AmeriSpeak® panel, a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. household population. Two waves of data were collected (Wave 1: October–November 2020, n = 727; Wave 2: March–May 2021, n = 569). Measures included demographics, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs, 8 items), pandemic-related stress (Pandemic-Related Stress Index [PRSI], 7 items), and depression symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents [PHQ-A], 9 items). Path analyses were conducted to examine pathways between Wave 1 ACEs, Wave 1 PRSI, and Wave 2 PHQ with covariates of sex and race/ethnicity. Females had higher ACEs, PRSI, and PHQ scores than males. The PRSI score at Wave 1 was positively associated with the PHQ at Wave 2 ( b = 0.29, SE = 0.14, p < 0.001). ACEs at Wave 1 were positively associated with PRSI at Wave 1 ( b = 0.31, SE = 0.03, p < 0.001) and with PHQ at Wave 2 ( b = 0.32, SE = 0.12, p < 0.001). The direct effect of ACEs on PHQ ( b = 0.23, SE = 0.12, p < 0.001) remained significant even after accounting for the indirect effect of pandemic-related stress ( b = 0.09, SE = 0.05, p < 0.001). Pandemic-related stress had a direct, adverse impact on adolescent depressive symptoms and demonstrates a compounding effect of childhood adversity and pandemic-related stress on depression. Findings can aid the design of interventions that promote mental health and support adolescent coping and recovery. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40653-022-00502-0.

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Adverse Childhood Experiences and Suicidal Behaviors Among Youth: The Buffering Influence of Family Communication and School Connectedness

Cited by 26 publications

References 26 publications

Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Maryland Middle School Students

Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Maryland Middle School Students

Protective factors for suicidal ideation among Black adolescents indirectly exposed to community violence

Associations between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Pandemic-Related Stress and the Impact on Adolescent Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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