TY - JOUR
T1 - Measuring early life adversity
T2 - A dimensional approach
AU - Berman, Ilana S.
AU - McLaughlin, Katie A.
AU - Tottenham, Nim
AU - Godfrey, Keith
AU - Seeman, Teresa
AU - Loucks, Eric
AU - Suomi, Stephen
AU - Danese, Andrea
AU - Sheridan, Margaret A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded by R24 AG065174 to Loucks, Sheridan, Godfrey; T32-HD007376 to Berman; R01-MH103291, R01-MH106482, and R37-MH119194 to McLaughlin; Award Number U24AG047867 and the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) under award number ES/M00919X/1 to Seeman; Godfrey is supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12011/4), the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR Senior Investigator (NF-SI-0515-10042) and NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (IS-BRC-1215-20004)), the European Union (Erasmus+ Programme ImpENSA 598488-EPP-1-2018-1-DE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP), British Heart Foundation (RG/15/17/3174, SP/F/21/150013), and the US National Institute On Aging of the National Institutes of Health (Award No. U24AG047867). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.
Publisher Copyright:
©
PY - 2022/5/22
Y1 - 2022/5/22
N2 - Exposure to adversity in childhood is associated with elevations in numerous physical and mental health outcomes across the life course. The biological embedding of early experience during periods of developmental plasticity is one pathway that contributes to these associations. Dimensional models specify mechanistic pathways linking different dimensions of adversity to health and well-being outcomes later in life. While findings from existing studies testing these dimensions have provided promising preliminary support for these models, less agreement exists about how to measure the experiences that comprise each dimension. Here, we review existing approaches to measuring two dimensions of adversity: threat and deprivation. We recommend specific measures for measuring these constructs and, when possible, document when the same measure can be used by different reporters and across the lifespan to maximize the utility with which these recommendations can be applied. Through this approach, we hope to stimulate progress in understanding how particular dimensions of early environmental experience contribute to lifelong health.
AB - Exposure to adversity in childhood is associated with elevations in numerous physical and mental health outcomes across the life course. The biological embedding of early experience during periods of developmental plasticity is one pathway that contributes to these associations. Dimensional models specify mechanistic pathways linking different dimensions of adversity to health and well-being outcomes later in life. While findings from existing studies testing these dimensions have provided promising preliminary support for these models, less agreement exists about how to measure the experiences that comprise each dimension. Here, we review existing approaches to measuring two dimensions of adversity: threat and deprivation. We recommend specific measures for measuring these constructs and, when possible, document when the same measure can be used by different reporters and across the lifespan to maximize the utility with which these recommendations can be applied. Through this approach, we hope to stimulate progress in understanding how particular dimensions of early environmental experience contribute to lifelong health.
KW - ACEs
KW - adverse early experiences
KW - adversity
KW - deprivation and threat
KW - dimensional models
KW - measurement
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85127553953&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0954579421001826
DO - 10.1017/S0954579421001826
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85127553953
SN - 0954-5794
VL - 34
SP - 499
EP - 511
JO - Development and psychopathology
JF - Development and psychopathology
IS - 2
ER -
