Family Caregiver Acceptability of Assessing Caregiver Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Distress in Pediatric Specialty Care. Children (Basel) 2023 Feb 15;10(2)
Date
02/26/2023Pubmed ID
36832511Pubmed Central ID
PMC9954957DOI
10.3390/children10020382Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85148709107 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 3 CitationsAbstract
INTRODUCTION: Providing quality healthcare for children includes assessing and responding to needs of their family caregivers. Three salient domains to consider are caregivers' early adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), their current levels of distress, and their resilience in coping with both prior and current stressors.
OBJECTIVE: Determine acceptability of assessing caregiver ACEs, current distress, and resilience in pediatric subspecialty care settings.
METHODS: Caregivers of patients in two pediatric specialty care clinics completed questionnaires about their ACEs, recent emotional distress, and resilience. Importantly, caregivers also rated the acceptability of being asked these questions. Participants included 100 caregivers of youth ages 3-17 across Sickle Cell Disease and Pain clinic settings. The majority of participants were mothers (91.0%) who identified as non-Hispanic (86.0%). Caregiver race was primarily African American/Black (53.0%) and White (41.0%). The Area Deprivation Index (ADI) was used to assess socioeconomic disadvantage.
RESULTS: High levels of caregiver acceptability or neutrality with assessing ACEs and distress, as well as high ACEs, distress, and resilience. Associations were found between caregiver ratings of acceptability with caregiver resilience and socioeconomic disadvantage. Caregivers reported openness to being asked about their experiences during childhood and recent emotional distress, although ratings of acceptability varied according to other contextual variables, such as level of socioeconomic disadvantage and caregiver resilience. In general, caregivers perceived themselves to be resilient in the face of adversity.
CONCLUSIONS: Assessing caregiver ACEs and distress in a trauma-informed way may provide opportunities for better understanding the needs of caregivers and families in order to support them more effectively in the pediatric setting.
Author List
Kapke TL, Karst J, LiaBraaten B, Zhang J, Yan K, Barbeau J, Hainsworth KRAuthors
Keri Hainsworth PhD Director, Associate Professor in the Anesthesiology department at Medical College of WisconsinTheresa L. Kapke MD Assistant Professor in the Anesthesiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Jeffrey S. Karst PhD Associate Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Ke Yan PhD Associate Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin
