Adverse Childhood Experiences and School-Based Victimization and Perpetration

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Criminology
• Public Health

Background:

• Retrospective adult self-reports link adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to increased risk of violence perpetration and victimization.
• Research on the association between adolescent-reported ACE and school violence involvement remains limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between adolescent-reported ACE and various forms of on-campus violence.
• To assess the risk of involvement in victim, perpetrator, and victim-perpetrator groups based on ACE.
• To investigate gender differences in the association between ACE and school violence.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of the 2013 Minnesota Student Survey data from approximately 37,000 ninth graders.
• Multinomial logistic regression to determine the risk of membership in violence involvement groups relative to no involvement for students with ACE.
• Logistic regression models to assess the association between cumulative ACE and school violence, controlling for demographic and psychosocial factors.

Main Results:

• Nearly 30% of students reported at least one ACE.
• Students with ACE were disproportionately represented in victim-only (38%), perpetrator-only (40%), and victim-perpetrator (63%) groups compared to no violence involvement (19%).
• A strong, graded relationship existed between ACE and school violence: victimization (bullying, weapon threats, theft) and perpetration (bullying, weapon membawa), with boys showing higher vulnerability.

Conclusions:

• Adolescent-reported ACE is significantly associated with increased risk for multiple types of school violence involvement.
• Schools should implement systematic ACE screening, especially for adolescents involved in violence, and enhance access to trauma-informed interventions.
• Findings highlight the need for early intervention and support for adolescents exposed to adverse childhood experiences to prevent school violence.