title: Relationships between adverse childhood experiences and adult mental well-being: results from an English national household survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Individuals' childhood experiences can strongly influence their future health and well-being. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as abuse and dysfunctional home environments show strong cumulative relationships with physical and mental illness yet less is known about their effects on mental well-being in the general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A nationally representative household survey of English adults (n = 3,885) measuring current mental well-being (Short Edinburgh-Warwick Mental Well-being Scale SWEMWBS) and life satisfaction and retrospective exposure to nine ACEs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Almost half of participants (46.4 %) had suffered at least one ACE and 8.3 % had suffered four or more. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for low life satisfaction and low mental well-being increased with the number of ACEs. AORs for low ratings of all individual SWEMWBS components also increased with ACE count, particularly never or rarely feeling close to others. Of individual ACEs, growing up in a household affected by mental illness and suffering sexual abuse had the most relationships with markers of mental well-being.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Childhood adversity has a strong cumulative relationship with adult mental well-being. Comprehensive mental health strategies should incorporate interventions to prevent ACEs and moderate their impacts from the very earliest stages of life.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public health, Liverpool John Moores University, 15-21 Webster Street, Liverpool, L3 2ET, UK. k.e.hughes@ljmu.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Public Health Department, 10 Duke Street, Blackburn, BB2 1DH, UK. Helen.Lowey@blackburn.gov.uk.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lowey
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public health, Liverpool John Moores University, 15-21 Webster Street, Liverpool, L3 2ET, UK. z.a.quigg@ljmu.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Zara
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Quigg
authors.affiliation: Bangor University, Normal Site, Bangor, LL57 2PZ, UK. m.a.bellis@bangor.ac.uk.|Director of Policy, Research and International Development, Public Health Wales, Hadyn Ellis Building, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, UK. m.a.bellis@bangor.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bellis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000069586:Adult Survivors of Child Adverse Events / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult