Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences in the First Decade of Life: A Study in the Portuguese Cohort, Generation XXI

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a modifiable risk factor for diseases throughout life. This study estimates the prevalence of ACEs in children, addressing associated sociodemographic characteristics and examining the relationship of ACEs with the child’s health and behaviors. We used information on 5295 participants at 10 years old, of the birth cohort Generation XXI, established in Porto, Portugal. Children answered a self-administered questionnaire on ACEs, based on the original ACEs study. Principal component analysis was used to group correlated ACEs, and a score was computed to assess their cumulative effect. Overall, 96.2% of children reported having been exposed to at least one ACE. The most prevalent ACE was a household member shouting, yelling, or screaming at the child (57.7%). Boys were more likely than girls to report “abuse”, “school problems”, and “death/severe disease”. Low parental education, income, and unemployment were associated with an increased risk of “school problems”, “death/severe disease”, and “household dysfunction”. We observed that the dimensions of ACEs could be identified at 10 years of age. A disadvantaged socioeconomic environment was associated with dimensions of ACEs. These data illustrate the natural history of dimensions of ACEs and their potential social patterning.This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization and national funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education under the projects “BioAdversity: How childhood social adversity shapes health: The biology of social adversity” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016838; PTDC/DTP-EPI/1687/2014), “HIneC: When do health inequalities start? Understanding the impact of childhood social adversity on health trajectories from birth to early adolescence” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029567; PTDC/SAU-PUB/29567/2017) and “STEPACHE: The pediatric roots of amplified pain: from contextual influences to risk stratification” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029087; PTDC/SAU-EPI/29087/2017). It is also supported by the Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia—Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit) (UIDB/04750/2020) and Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional em Saúde Populacional (ITR) (LA/P/0064/2020), Administração Regional de Saúde Norte (Regional Department of Ministry of Health) and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian; PhD Grant SFRH/BD/144503/2019 (to AA) funded by FCT through Fundo Social Europeu (FSE) and CEECIND/01516/2017 (to SF)

Childhood social adversity and clustering of health risk behaviours during early adolescence in a population-based birth cohort

Objectives: This study aimed to prospectively explore the association between early lifetime exposure to psychosocial adversity and engagement in health risk behaviours (HRBs) during early adolescence. Study design: This was a prospective study. Methods: This study used data from the baseline (2005-2006), third (2016-2017) and fourth waves (2018-2020) of the Generation XXI birth cohort. Socio-economic circumstances (SECs) at baseline, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; e.g. abuse, neglect, household dysfunction) at age 10 years and HRBs (i.e. alcohol consumption, smoking, physical exercise level, sedentary behaviours, sleep duration and eating behaviours) at age 13 years were measured. Patterns of HRBs were obtained using latent class analysis. Latent class regression analysis was used to estimate the likelihood of being engaged in HRBs according to the extent of exposure to ACEs (i.e. 0 ACEs, 1-3 ACEs, 4-5 ACEs and & GE;6 ACEs) and negative family SECs. Results: Adolescents whose mothers had a low level of education (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.72 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 2.33-3.18]), low occupational status (aOR = 3.21 [95% CI, 2.68-3.85]) and low income (aOR = 2.70 [95% CI, 2.23-3.28]) were more likely to be engaged in HRBs than their peers with higher SECs. Adolescents who experienced more ACEs were at a significantly increased risk of involve-ment in HRBs (aOR = 1.86 [95% CI, 1.33-2.63] for 4-5 ACEs vs aOR 2.41 [95% CI, 1.72-3.43] for & GE;6 ACEs). No significant gender differences were observed. Conclusions: Adolescents from families with low SECs were more likely than their more affluent coun-terparts to be engaged in HRBs. Furthermore, more ACEs contributed to widening health inequalities. & COPY; 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization and national funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) , Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology, and Higher Education under the projects HIneC: When do health inequalities start? Understanding the impact of childhood social adversity on health trajectories from birth to early adolescence (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029567; reference: PTDC/SAU-PUB/29567/2017) . It is also supported by Unidade de Investigacao em Epidemiologia-Instituto de Saude Publica da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit) (UIDB/04750/2020) , Laboratorio para a Investigacao Integrativa e Translacional (ITR) , Porto, Portugal (LA/P/0064/2020) , PhD grant SFRH/BD/144503/2019 (to A.A.) funded by FCT through Fundo Social Europeu, and FCT Investigator contract CEECIND/01516/2017 (to S.F.)

The Interaction Effect of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Socioeconomic Circumstances in Adolescent Depressive Symptomatology

"Purpose Limited research has examined the combined effects of psychosocial and material adversities experienced in childhood during adolescence, a sensitive period of rapid social, emotional, and cognitive development. We investigated the interaction effect of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and socioeconomic circumstances (SECs) during childhood on emerging self-reported depressive symptomatology among 13-year-old Portuguese adolescents. Methods We utilized data from 4,280 participants in the Generation XXI birth cohort, collected during the baseline (2005–2006), third (2016–2017), and fourth waves (2018–2020). Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were obtained from binary logistic regression analyses to estimate the likelihood of depressive symptoms based on exposure to ACEs and adverse family SECs. The interaction effect of ACEs and SECs was evaluated in terms of departure from additive and multiplicative models. Results Adolescents who reported experiences of abuse, school-related problems, and household dysfunction, as well as those from less advantaged family SECs at age 10, were more likely to report moderate to severe depressive symptoms at age 13, compared to their more affluent counterparts. We observed a significant additive interaction between low household income and abuse in the development of moderate to severe depressive symptoms [relative excess risk due to interaction, 0.69, 95% CI: 0.11, 1.26]. This interaction remained statistically significant on a multiplicative scale [OR = 1.61, 95% CI: 0.99, 2.69]. Discussion ACEs and low family SECs during the first decade of life are associated with an elevated risk of moderate to severe depressive symptoms in adolescence."This study is financed by national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) I.P., within the scope of project “UNFOLD - In the shadow of violence: a life-course approach to unfold the scars on the body and mind over childhood and adolescence” (Ref. 2022.06837.PTDC; DOI:10.54499/2022.06837.PTDC), Epidemiology Research Unit (EPIUnit) [UIDB/04750/2020; DOI:10.54499/UIDB/04750/2020] and Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health (ITR) [LA/P/0064/2020; DOI:10.54499/LA/P/0064/2020]. Additionally, it is supported by the PhD grant SFRH/BD/144503/2019 (to AA) funded by FCT through the European Social Fund and the FCT Investigator contract DOI :10.54499/CEECIND/01516/2017/CP1406/CT0001 (to SF)

Adaptable history biases in human perceptual decisions

When making choices under conditions of perceptual uncertainty, past experience can play a vital role. However, it can also lead to biases that worsen decisions. Consistent with previous observations, we found that human choices are influenced by the success or failure of past choices even in a standard two-alternative detection task, where choice history is irrelevant. The typical bias was one that made the subject switch choices after a failure. These choice history biases led to poorer performance and were similar for observers in different countries. They were well captured by a simple logistic regression model that had been previously applied to describe psychophysical performance in mice. Such irrational biases seem at odds with the principles of reinforcement learning, which would predict exquisite adaptability to choice history. We therefore asked whether subjects could adapt their irrational biases following changes in trial order statistics. Adaptability was strong in the direction that confirmed a subject's default biases, but weaker in the opposite direction, so that existing biases could not be eradicated. We conclude that humans can adapt choice history biases, but cannot easily overcome existing biases even if irrational in the current context: adaptation is more sensitive to confirmatory than contradictory statistics

Improving visual sensitivity with subthreshold transcranial magnetic stimulation

We probed for improvement of visual sensitivity in human participants using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Stimulation of visual cortex can induce an illusory visual percept known as a phosphene. It is known that TMS, delivered at intensities above the threshold to induce phosphenes, impairs the detection of visual stimuli. We investigated how the detection of a simple visual stimulus is affected by TMS applied to visual cortex at or below the phosphene threshold. Participants performed the detection task while the contrast of the visual stimulus was varied from trial to trial according to an adaptive staircase procedure. Detection of the stimulus was enhanced when a single pulse of TMS was delivered to the contralateral visual cortex 100 or 120 ms after stimulus onset at intensities just below the phosphene threshold. No improvement in visual sensitivity was observed when TMS was applied to the visual cortex in the opposite hemisphere (ipsilateral to the visual stimulus). We conclude that TMS-induced neuronal activity can sum with stimulus-evoked activity to augment visual perception

Adverse childhood experiences and bodily pain at 10 years of age: Findings from the Generation XXI cohort

Background: Youth and young adults with pain conditions report having a history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) more frequently than their healthy peers. The relationship between ACEs and pain before adolescence in population-based settings is not extensively researched. Objective: To examine the association between the history of ACEs and bodily pain at 10 years of age. Participants and setting: Cross-sectional analysis of 4738 participants of Generation XXI population-based birth cohort, recruited in 2005–06 in Porto, Portugal. Methods: Study includes self-reported data on ACEs exposures and bodily pain (pain presence, sites, and intensity a week prior to the interview). Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were obtained from binary and multinomial logistic regression analyses to estimate the likelihood of various pain features according to the extent of exposure to ACEs (i.e., 0 ACEs, 1–3 ACEs, 4–5 ACEs, and ≥ 6 ACEs). Results: Prevalence of pain, multisite, and high-intensity pain a week prior to the interview increased with increasing exposure to ACEs. After controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, children who had experienced ≥6 ACEs were more likely to report pain [AOR 3.18 (95% CI 2.19, 4.74)], multisite pain [AOR 2.45 (95% CI 1.37, 4.40)], and high-intensity pain [AOR 4.27 (95% CI 2.56, 7.12)] compared with children with no ACEs. Conclusions: A dose-response association was observed between the cumulative number of ACEs and reports of pain in 10-year-old children, suggesting that embodiment of ACEs starts as early as childhood and that pain related to ACEs begins earlier than previously reported. © 2022 Elsevier LtdFunding text 1: This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization and national funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education under the projects “HIneC: When do health inequalities start? Understanding the impact of childhood social adversity on health trajectories from birth to early adolescence” ( POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029567 ; PTDC/SAU-PUB/29567/2017 ) and “STEPACHE: The pediatric roots of amplified pain: from contextual influences to risk stratification” ( POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029087 ; PTDC/SAU-EPI/29087/2017 ). It is also supported by Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit) ( UIDB/04750/2020 ), Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional (ITR), Porto, Portugal ( LA/P/0064/2020 ), PhD Grant SFRH/BD/144503/2019 (to AA) funded by FCT through Fundo Social Europeu (FSE) and FCT Investigator contract CEECIND/01516/2017 (to SF). ; Funding text 2: This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization and national funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education under the projects “HIneC: When do health inequalities start? Understanding the impact of childhood social adversity on health trajectories from birth to early adolescence” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029567; PTDC/SAU-PUB/29567/2017) and “STEPACHE: The pediatric roots of amplified pain: from contextual influences to risk stratification” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029087; PTDC/SAU-EPI/29087/2017). It is also supported by Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit) (UIDB/04750/2020), Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional (ITR), Porto, Portugal (LA/P/0064/2020), PhD Grant SFRH/BD/144503/2019 (to AA) funded by FCT through Fundo Social Europeu (FSE) and FCT Investigator contract CEECIND/01516/2017 (to SF)

Control of CO2 laser power by acoustic fields

The present study investigates the optimization of the operation of the CO2 laser in the acoustoplasma mode (i.e., dependence of the laser radiation power on the composition of the working mixture, pressure, value of the direct component of the discharge current, frequency, and modulation depth). A three-dimensional dependence on the frequency and modulation depth of the discharge current is experimentally obtained for the normalized efficiency of the conversion of the electric power supplied to the discharge tube into laser power. The maximum gain when transition to the acoustoplasma mode exceeds 2.5 times. The optimum depth of the discharge current modulation is 0.5–0.7. The laser radiation power modulation caused by the discharge current modulation is measured. Laser power is not modulated at modulation frequencies of current >1 kHz. Meanwhile, at current modulation frequencies <0.5 kHz, the modulation depth of the laser radiation power nonlinearly depends on the modulation depth of the discharge current and has a threshold character. The modulation depth of the laser radiation power is associated with the creation of an acoustoplasma and not simply with the discharge current modulation

Symptom dimensions stability over time in recent onset psychosis: A prospective study.

The factorial structure of schizophrenia symptoms has been much debated but little is known on its degree of unicity, specificity as well as its dynamic over time. Symptom differentiation is a phenomenon according to which patients' symptoms could differentiate from one another during illness to form more independent, distinct dimensions. On the contrary, symptom dedifferentiation is an increase in the correlations between those symptoms over time. The goal of this study was to investigate symptom differentiation or dedifferentiation over time in recent onset psychosis using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. A confirmatory factor analysis model based on the consensus five-factor model of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for schizophrenia was estimated on seven different time points over a three-year period. A general factor capturing common variance between every symptom was also included. Explained common variance was computed for the general factor and each specific factor. Three hundred and sixty-two recent onset psychosis patients were assessed. Results showed no evidence for either symptom differentiation or dedifferentiation over time. Specific symptoms accounted for &gt;70 % of the variance suggesting a high degree of specificity of the symptomatology. Overall, this study adds support for a highly multidimensional approach to clinical symptom assessment with an explicit focus on depression. The premise behind the staging approach being inherently one-dimensional, implications for further research is discussed

Comparison of glow, arc, and magnetron direct current discharges

Glow discharge (GD) in a tube, arc discharge (AD) without cathode heating from an external source, and magnetron discharge (MD) in a planar magnetron are compared. In each of the discharges, characteristic areas are distinguished. In MD, electrons trapped in the near-cathode region are not directly involved in ionization processes, but “wake” acceleration of slow ions by electrons that move along Larmor orbits is possible, which gives additional energy to ions moving toward the cathode. In GD in the near-cathode region, the average energy of the ejected electrons is on the order of several electron volts, and the energy of the ions and neutrals is less than 0.1 eV. In MD in the near-cathode region, the average energy of knocked-out electrons, ions, and neutrals is on the order of tens of electron volts. The differential resistance of GD is negative, that of AD is usually negative, and that of MD is positive. The energy of ions in the magnetron plasma can be greater than that of electrons, which gives new possibilities for acoustoplasma control of MD and the creation of appropriate instruments and devices