Assessing adverse experiences from infancy through early childhood in home visiting programs

Area of Science:

• Child Development
• Family Studies
• Public Health

Background:

• Early intervention and home visiting programs aim to mitigate Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
• Assessing children's ACEs exposure is challenging due to parental involvement in both measurement and intervention.
• Parental factors can influence child abuse and neglect potential and social-emotional outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an assessment tool for children's exposure to ACEs.
• To examine the relationship between parental child abuse/neglect potential and child social-emotional functioning.
• To evaluate the Family Map Inventories (FMI) for comprehensive family assessment and child screening.

Main Methods:

• The Family Map Inventories (FMI) were implemented in home visiting programs (N=1,282).
• Assessments were conducted within one month of enrollment for children (average age 33 months).
• Statistical analyses examined associations between FMI-ACEs, parental factors, and child social-emotional development.

Main Results:

• Children experienced ACEs at significant rates: 27% to one, 18% to two, 11% to three, and 12% to four or more FMI-ACEs.
• FMI-ACEs were associated with increased parental beliefs and behaviors indicative of child abuse and neglect.
• Children with four or more FMI-ACEs were over 6 times more likely to have at-risk social-emotional development scores.

Conclusions:

• The FMI effectively assesses children's exposure to ACEs within early intervention settings.
• Higher ACEs are linked to increased risk of child abuse/neglect and impaired social-emotional development.
• Family-centered assessment facilitates early intervention, enhancing family strengths and reducing adverse impacts.