Purpose
"Stressful childhood experiences have negative long-term health consequences. The present study examines the association between adverse childhood experiences, socioeconomic position, and risk of psychotropic medication in young adulthood....
Conclusions
"Accumulation of adverse childhood experiences increases the risk of psychotropic medication in young adults. Parental educational level is of less importance when adjusting for adverse childhood experiences. The higher risk for future mental health problems among children from lower socioeconomic groups, compared to peers from more advantaged backgrounds, seems to be linked to a higher rate of exposure to adverse childhood experiences....
"Several previous studies have pointed out a strong link between severe adverse childhood experiences, in particular child abuse and neglect, and development of psychiatric problems [1], [18]. One explanation to how these problems come about is that early maltreatment has enduring negative effects on brain development. The adverse childhood experiences in this study are indicators of less severe everyday life stressors. Our study thus seems to support the allostatic stress theory in its claims that accumulation of stress, not only extreme deprivation, during childhood may permanently alter brain function."
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0053551
Citation: Björkenstam E, Hjern A, Mittendorfer-Rutz E, Vinnerljung B, Hallqvist J, et al. (2013) Multi-Exposure and Clustering of Adverse Childhood Experiences, Socioeconomic Differences and Psychotropic Medication in Young Adults. PLoS ONE 8(1):e53551. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053551
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