Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and associations with personal and professional factors in health and social care workers: A systematic review.

Abstract

To systematically review papers reporting the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in health and social care workers, as well as any personal or professional factors they were associated with. CINAHL, EMCARE, PsychInfo, and Medline were searched to find studies utilizing the ACE questionnaire (Felitti et al., 1998) in health and social care worker populations. The initial search returned 1,764 papers, with 17 studies meeting the inclusion criteria to be in the review. ACEs among health and social care workers were frequently reported and occurred more often than in the general population. They were also associated with several personal and professional outcomes, including poor physical and mental health, and workplace stress. Understanding staff ACE characteristics can help organizations to consider ways to support staff, which may be individual or systemic. Trauma-responsive systems may be a possible answer among organizations to improve staff well-being, quality of service, and better outcomes for service users. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).