Are Adverse Childhood Experiences Associated With Deficits in Self-Control? A Test Among Two Independent Samples of Youth

A large body of research links both a lack of self-control and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to a variety of negative health and behavior outcomes, including delinquent and criminal behavior. To date, relatively little research considers whether experiencing a greater variety of ACEs is assoc...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Meldrum, Ryan Charles (Author) ; Campion Young, Brae (Author) ; Copp, Jennifer E. (Author) ; Hay, Carter (Author) ; Kernsmith, Poco D. (Author) ; Smith-Darden, Joanne P. (Author) ; Soor, Sadhika (Author) ; Trace, Madison (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2020
In: Criminal justice and behavior
Year: 2020, Volume: 47, Issue: 2, Pages: 166-186
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
Supporting Healthy Adolescent Relationships and Environments study
Adverse Childhood Experiences
household dysfunction
Maltreatment
Self-control
Department of Juvenile Justice
Florida
Description
Summary:A large body of research links both a lack of self-control and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to a variety of negative health and behavior outcomes, including delinquent and criminal behavior. To date, relatively little research considers whether experiencing a greater variety of ACEs is associated with lower self-control. We advance this area of research by first articulating potential mechanisms through which ACEs may impact self-control. We then investigate whether experiencing more ACEs is inversely associated with self-control in separate samples of youth from Michigan and Florida. For both samples, results indicate that experiencing a greater variety of ACEs is negatively associated with self-control. Exploratory analyses also indicate that ACEs reflecting interpersonal maltreatment are more strongly associated with deficits in self-control than ACEs pertaining to aspects of household dysfunction.
ISSN:1552-3594
DOI:10.1177/0093854819879741