How Adverse Childhood Experiences Affect the Mental Health and Academic Performance of College Students

Abstract

Our research utilized the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) survey as a starting point to find how a student’s mental health may be influenced by the number of ACEs they report, and the effects that may have on academic performance. We modeled our questions utilizing the 10 different ACEs a person could experience between 0 – 18 years of age, as defined by a study published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, (Felitti, Anda, Nordenberg, et al, 1998). These 10 childhood traumas include: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, mental illness of a household member, an incarcerated household member, mother treated violently, household member with substance abuse, and divorce.