TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in Special Education Schools from a Multi-Informant Perspective
AU - Offerman, Evelyne C. P.
AU - Asselman, Michiel W.
AU - Bolling, Floor
AU - Helmond, Petra
AU - Stams, Geert-Jan J. M.
AU - Lindauer, Ramón J. L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/3/1
Y1 - 2022/3/1
N2 - Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with an increased risk of developing severe emotional and behavioral problems; however, little research is published on ACEs for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in special education (SE) schools. We therefore systematically explored the prevalence, type and timing of ACEs in these students from five urban SE schools in the Netherlands (Mage = 11.58 years; 85.1% boys) from a multi-informant perspective, using students’ self-reports (n = 169), parent reports (n = 95) and school files (n = 172). Almost all students experienced at least one ACE (96.4% self-reports, 89.5% parent reports, 95.4% school files), and more than half experienced four or more ACEs (74.5% self-reports, 62.7% parent reports, 59.9% school files). A large majority of students experienced maltreatment, which often co-occurred with household challenges and community stressors. Additionally, 45.9% of the students experienced their first ACE before the age of 4. Students with EBD in SE who live in poverty or in single-parent households were more likely to report multiple ACEs. Knowledge of the prevalence of ACEs may help understand the severe problems and poor long-term outcomes of students with EBD in SE.
AB - Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with an increased risk of developing severe emotional and behavioral problems; however, little research is published on ACEs for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in special education (SE) schools. We therefore systematically explored the prevalence, type and timing of ACEs in these students from five urban SE schools in the Netherlands (Mage = 11.58 years; 85.1% boys) from a multi-informant perspective, using students’ self-reports (n = 169), parent reports (n = 95) and school files (n = 172). Almost all students experienced at least one ACE (96.4% self-reports, 89.5% parent reports, 95.4% school files), and more than half experienced four or more ACEs (74.5% self-reports, 62.7% parent reports, 59.9% school files). A large majority of students experienced maltreatment, which often co-occurred with household challenges and community stressors. Additionally, 45.9% of the students experienced their first ACE before the age of 4. Students with EBD in SE who live in poverty or in single-parent households were more likely to report multiple ACEs. Knowledge of the prevalence of ACEs may help understand the severe problems and poor long-term outcomes of students with EBD in SE.
KW - Adverse childhood experiences
KW - Emotional and behavioral disorders
KW - Multi-informant
KW - Prevalence
KW - Special education schools
KW - Students
KW - Trauma-informed education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85126302745&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063411
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063411
M3 - Article
C2 - 35329097
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 19
JO - International journal of environmental research and public health
JF - International journal of environmental research and public health
IS - 6
M1 - 3411
ER -