Parental Separation - Is the Accumulation with Other Adverse Childhood Experiences the Main Burden? Analysis of a Representative Sample of the German Population

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) tend to co-occur. The more forms of childhood adverse are experienced, the higher are the psychological and physical impairments in adulthood. The present study therefore examines the extent to which the experience of parental separation is related to the risk of other forms of ACEs and the extent to which the accumulation of ACEs is related to impairment in adulthood. A cross-sectional analysis of a representative sample of the German population from the age of 18 onwards was performed (N=2466; mean age=49.5 years (18-93); f: 1368 (55.5%); m: 1098 (44.5%)). The demographic data were assessed by interview, the remaining data were collected by questionnaires. Current depressive and anxiety symptoms self-perceived somatic health and life quality were assessed, while ACEs were assessed retrospectively by the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)-Questionnaire. Child maltreatment and mental illness of household members, substance abuse of household members, incarceration of household members and violence against the mother were more frequent when participants reported separation of parents. Parental separation was not associated with an increased rate of psychological impairment and, in women, physical impairment when no other forms of ACEs were present. Children and adolescents whose parents have separated more often experience other forms of ACEs than their peers. It seems to be this accumulation of ACEs that is associated with impairments in adulthood.