Because childhood and adolescence are momentous phases of physical and neurobiological growth, as well as periods of heightened emotional, psychological and social vulnerability, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can interfere significantly with critical developmental processes, potentially resulting in poor medical and/or psychological outcomes which can persist throughout the individual’s lifetime. These cascading, long-lasting effects are thought to be rooted in an altered physiological stress response. ACEs trigger an acute stress reaction, which challenges or potentially overwhelms a child’s adaptive capacity, increasing their vulnerablity to future stress exposure in the face of insufficient or depleted coping resources. Thus, repeated exposure to ACEs increases sensitization to stressors while simultaneously decreasing tolerance to further stressful events, ultimately increasing the psychological burden and, thereby, exacerbating the physiological dysregulation of the stress response. In children and adolescents, impaired stress regulation may drive maladaptive emotional or behavioral response patterns. Studies have consistently demonstrated an increasing dose-response relationship between the number of ACEs experienced and both the prevalence and risk of psychopathological (internalizing and/or externalizing) symptoms (PPS).
However, while ACEs are an established risk factor for PPS, not everyone responds negatively to childhood adversity; most do not report struggling with their emotional or behavioral health. Furthermore, type of hardship experienced alone does not determine a child’s response to the stressor. Demographic and lifestyle factors, such as socioeconomic standing (SES), as well as access to and acceptance of health-promoting/stress-regulating coping behaviors, such as regular physical activity (PA) and adequate sleep, influence psychological wellbeing both cumulatively and interactively together with ACEs.
Established in 2018, the multisite longitudinal Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study performs comprehensive sets of physical, cognitive, social, emotional, environmental, behavioral, and academic assessments annually. It is the largest, long-term study on brain development and child health in the United states and provides unique data resource as they follow an open science model and release curated, anonymized data every year. Owing to its large size and collection of objectively measured, real-time fitness and sleep metrics, the ABCD study offers a novel opportunity to observe the effects of PA and sleep habits on psychopathology outcomes within an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse population with a significant history of ACEs. The current study hopes to expand the body of knowledge regarding modifiable resilience factors, such as PA and sleep, in the context of ACE score, domain, socioeconomic standing, and rates of PPS.
Contact: Jennifer Eidswick