UC Santa Barbara

Children exposed to adverse experiences early in life have an increased risk for developing a range of behavioral problems (Repetti, Taylor, & Seeman, 2002). However, studies focusing on the immediate impact of adverse experiences in early childhood are limited despite high rates of abuse and neglect in young children (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). Rates of exposure to violence are also particularly high (63%-94%) for children from Latinx backgrounds living in disadvantaged communities (Gudino, Nadeem, Kataoka, & Lau, 2011). The current study uses parent reported screening and assessment data from a sample of clinically referred youth, ages 1.5 to 5 years, to examine children’s exposure to a range of adverse childhood experiences, levels of internalizing and externalizing problems, and self reports of parenting stress. The sample was comprised of youth from predominantly Latinx (70%) and low-income backrounds. Multivariate analysis was used to test parenting stress as a moderator between the child’s cumulative trauma and child behavior outcomes. Gender and ethnicity differences for cumulative adverse childhood experiences were also analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Although results did not support evidence of moderation, parenting stress was found to be a significant predictor for both internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Cumulative trauma significantly predicted internalizing, but not externalizing behaviors. Results from the ANOVA indicated a significant two-way interaction between gender and ethnicity, with non-Latinx children reportedly experiencing an increased number of cumulative traumas compared to Latinx children. Findings from this study are intended to inform screening and treatment approaches for trauma in early childhood populations. Cultural sensitivity concerns related to ACEs screening are also discussed, as well as implications for addressing parenting stress and its relation to young children’s behavioral symptoms following trauma exposure.