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Adverse Childhood Experiences in Medical Students: Implications for Wellness

OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a cohort of third-year medical students and characterize their childhood protective factors. METHODS: The authors developed a web-based anonymous survey distributed to all third-year m...

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Autores principales: Sciolla, Andrés F., Wilkes, Michael S., Griffin, Erin J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer International Publishing 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6647886/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30850989
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40596-019-01047-5
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author Sciolla, Andrés F.
Wilkes, Michael S.
Griffin, Erin J.
author_facet Sciolla, Andrés F.
Wilkes, Michael S.
Griffin, Erin J.
author_sort Sciolla, Andrés F.
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a cohort of third-year medical students and characterize their childhood protective factors. METHODS: The authors developed a web-based anonymous survey distributed to all third-year medical students in one school (N = 98). The survey included the 10-item ACE Study questionnaire, a list of childhood protective factors (CPF) and questions to assess students’ perception of the impact of ACEs on their physical and mental health. The medical school’s IRB approved the student survey as an exempt study. The authors computed descriptive and comparative statistical analyses. RESULTS: Eighty-six of 98 students responded (88% response rate). Forty-four students (51%) reported at least one ACE exposure and 10 (12%) reported ≥ 4 exposures. The latter were all female. The average difference in the ACE score between male and female medical students was − 1.1 (independent t test with unequal variances t(57.7) = − 2.82, P = .007). Students with an ACE score of ≥ 4 were significantly more likely to report a moderate or significant effect on their mental health, compared with students with scores ≤ 3 (chi-square test, P = < .0001). Most students reported high levels of CPF (median score = 13 of a maximum score = 14). ACEs and CPF were inversely associated (Pearson correlation = − 0.32, P = .003). CONCLUSIONS: A sizeable minority of medical students reported exposure to multiple ACEs. If replicated, findings suggest a significant vulnerability of these medical students to health risk behaviors and physical and mental health problems during training and future medical practice.
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spelling pubmed-66478862019-08-09 Adverse Childhood Experiences in Medical Students: Implications for Wellness Sciolla, Andrés F. Wilkes, Michael S. Griffin, Erin J. Acad Psychiatry In Brief Report OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a cohort of third-year medical students and characterize their childhood protective factors. METHODS: The authors developed a web-based anonymous survey distributed to all third-year medical students in one school (N = 98). The survey included the 10-item ACE Study questionnaire, a list of childhood protective factors (CPF) and questions to assess students’ perception of the impact of ACEs on their physical and mental health. The medical school’s IRB approved the student survey as an exempt study. The authors computed descriptive and comparative statistical analyses. RESULTS: Eighty-six of 98 students responded (88% response rate). Forty-four students (51%) reported at least one ACE exposure and 10 (12%) reported ≥ 4 exposures. The latter were all female. The average difference in the ACE score between male and female medical students was − 1.1 (independent t test with unequal variances t(57.7) = − 2.82, P = .007). Students with an ACE score of ≥ 4 were significantly more likely to report a moderate or significant effect on their mental health, compared with students with scores ≤ 3 (chi-square test, P = < .0001). Most students reported high levels of CPF (median score = 13 of a maximum score = 14). ACEs and CPF were inversely associated (Pearson correlation = − 0.32, P = .003). CONCLUSIONS: A sizeable minority of medical students reported exposure to multiple ACEs. If replicated, findings suggest a significant vulnerability of these medical students to health risk behaviors and physical and mental health problems during training and future medical practice. Springer International Publishing 2019-03-08 2019 /pmc/articles/PMC6647886/ /pubmed/30850989 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40596-019-01047-5 Text en © The Author(s) 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
spellingShingle In Brief Report
Sciolla, Andrés F.
Wilkes, Michael S.
Griffin, Erin J.
Adverse Childhood Experiences in Medical Students: Implications for Wellness
title Adverse Childhood Experiences in Medical Students: Implications for Wellness
title_full Adverse Childhood Experiences in Medical Students: Implications for Wellness
title_fullStr Adverse Childhood Experiences in Medical Students: Implications for Wellness
title_full_unstemmed Adverse Childhood Experiences in Medical Students: Implications for Wellness
title_short Adverse Childhood Experiences in Medical Students: Implications for Wellness
title_sort adverse childhood experiences in medical students: implications for wellness
topic In Brief Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6647886/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30850989
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40596-019-01047-5
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