Modern Psychological Studies
Volume
31
Number
2
Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Date
2026
Abstract
Childhood is a critical time for development, and negative experiences during this period may have lasting consequences. Children with intellectual disabilities (ID) are at greater risk for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) than children without ID. Using data from the 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health (U.S. Census Bureau), we assessed the frequency of ACEs reported based on IDs. Participants were caregivers of 528 children currently diagnosed with an ID and a random sample of 528 children selected from the remaining 49,755 respondents without an ID. As hypothesized, parents of children with ID reported a statistically significant greater number of total ACEs than parents of children without ID. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the number of ACEs for children whose ID were characterized as mild, moderate, or severe. The percentage of ACEs for the total sample was similar to other national datasets. It is critical to understand the family environment of individuals with an ID, as it may mitigate or intensify the effects of ACEs. It is also important to assess for ACEs while working with those with an ID, as early identification of such experiences may lead to improved care for those especially at risk for ACEs.
Subject
Psychology
Discipline
Psychology
Document Type
article
DCMI Type
Text
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Recommended Citation
Hurst, Sarah and Kaugars, Astrida S.
(2026)
"Adverse Childhood Experiences and Intellectual Disabilities: A Population-Based Comparison,"
Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 31:
No.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol31/iss2/4
Department
Dept. of Psychology