Early childhood trauma leaves lifelong mark

Posted

Early childhood experiences that are stressful or traumatic have been linked to lifelong impacts on health, said Shelly Fuller, a school social worker in Madison and Huron schools.
The ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study was conducted in the mid-1990s with more than 17,000 participants. The study was in collabortion with the Center for Disease Control’s division of violence and prevention.
Fuller will share information about ACE during a free community presentation from 8:30 a.m. to noon Wednesday at Holy Trinity Catholic School. Also presenting will be Lisa Sanderson, CDC’s Act Early Ambassador to S.D.
The study looked at the link between ACEs — including physical or sexual abuse, divorce in the family, substance abuse or violence in the home — and the individual’s long-term health and behavior.
“Sixty-seven percent of those in the study had at least one ACE,” Fuller said. “These study participants are actually still being followed today.”
Fuller said that high levels of stress at a young age physically affects the individual’s brain. Through a study  young rats were trained to fear a certain flower. When those rats reproduced, their young exhibited the same fear of the flower without the outside influence used on their parents.

“Toxic stress damages the developing brain,” Fuller said. “That’s why I’m so passionate about this. It can impact you with health and behavioral issues 50 years later.”
Early childhood trauma has been linked to risky health behaviors, and have been linked to later development of cancer, diabetes and obesity.
The study was conducted by Dr. Robert Anda and Dr. Laur Porter. In February Fuller was among 26 individuals in South Dakota chosen from application to take the ACE Interface master training to help get the message out. One of the trainers at that session was Dr. Anda.
“This study came about on a fluke,” Fuller said. “One of the doctors was studying heart disease, the other obesity. They began to see a common theme between the participants and their childhood.
“They came about and started looking at these adverse childhood experiences and how they impact adulthood,” she added.
They have identified 10 ACEs that cause toxic stress that can harm a child’s brain and change DNA, which may prevent them from learning as easily and interacting with other children.
These ACEs include emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse, emotional and physical neglect, seeing mother (father) treated violently, substance abuse or mental illness in the home, parental separation and having a family member incarcerated.
“If we prevented ACEs, we would prevent 67 percent of the suicides, 40 percent of the depression and 55.7 percent of anxiety,” Fuller said. “This study was all done in the ’90s. It’s just starting to make its way into the public.”
Fuller said at least 61 percent of adults have at least one ACE.
Those with three or more ACEs have a higher chance of alcoholism, depression, heart disease, depression, mental health problems and obesity, she said.
“We talk about how we can build resiliency and protective factors to help,” Fuller said. “Any organization that works with the public should really come from a trauma-informed approach. We may decrease these ACEs and also build resiliency.
“An ACE score isn’t your destiny,” Fuller said. “Research also shows there are things you can do. We can change people’s lives and do a better job.”