Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences within the First Decade of the ABCD Study: A Systematic Review

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are one of the most well-recognized constructs in the adversity literature and have been linked to poor developmental and health outcomes. Understanding the impact of ACEs on development is a major public health issue given the high levels of ACE exposure among US youth. The Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study holds significant potential to elucidate developmental trajectories following exposure to ACEs within a large and geographically diverse sample. To understand how researchers have previously defined and measured ACEs within this sample, study findings and current gaps, the present systematic review covers 36 studies focused on the impact of ACEs across a range of domains within the ABCD Study. Findings suggest the need to standardize ACE measurement when using this sample as ACEs have been defined and measured heterogeneously. However, studies using the ABCD data consistently emphasize the negative effects of ACE exposure within adolescent populations, including outcomes related to physical and mental health (e.g., worse diet, overall mental health symptoms), neural and cognitive development (e.g., lower hippocampal volume, worse cognitive functioning), and family, social, and neighborhood functioning (e.g., greater peer victimization, school disengagement). The majority of reviewed studies utilize the Baseline appointment and focus on early adolescence. Findings from the present review also highlight that researchers should expand the range of developmental outcomes studied to include family and school factors and should prioritize the inclusion of protective childhood experiences, particularly using longitudinal designs and later study timepoints, in future studies using ABCD Study data.