Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been identified as a key risk factor for a variety of negative health, psychiatric, and behavioral outcomes across the life course. Although recent research has begun to consider the role of ACEs in criminogenic behaviors among youth, few studies to date have assessed the association between early exposure to ACEs and delinquent behavior among nonincarcerated youth. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW; n = 3,402) and a life course theoretical framework, this study aims to address this gap in the literature by examining the relationships between individual, cumulative, and clustering of ACEs and delinquency in the lives of youth. The results of our empirical study indicate that individual, cumulative, and clustering of ACEs by the age of 5 years are associated with youth delinquent behavior. Based on our results, sociologists and criminologists should critically consider the role of ACEs in understanding youth delinquency.

The aim of this review is to assess empirical studies from the last 2 decades that have examined the association between cumulative stressors and adolescent substance use. Cumulative stressors were measured in these studies with adverse childhood experiences or adolescent stressful life events inventories. The 109 articles meeting the eligibility criteria that emerged from the review demonstrated a consistent, yet modest, association between cumulative stressors and adolescent substance use. Of note, several studies found that the associations were moderated or mediated by genetic factors related to cortisol regulation, intrapersonal factors such as low self-control, or interpersonal factors such as peer substance use. The review’s findings thus suggest that efforts to reduce the effects of cumulative stressors on substance use could gainfully identify and target these risk moderators and mediators.

Objective: The purposes of this study are twofold. First, we explore the associations between cumulative ACEs at ages 5 and 7 and delinquency at age 14 in a national sample of youth in the United Kingdom (UK). Second, we explore the role of five theoretically relevant mediators in explaining this relationship. Methods: Analyses were based on data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study—a prospective, longitudinal birth-cohort study of more than 18,000 individuals in the United Kingdom. Results: The results indicate that early ACEs are significantly associated with adolescent delinquency, with effects becoming significantly larger as ACEs accumulate. Findings also reveal that child property delinquency, substance use, low self-control, unstructured socializing, and parent–child attachment at age 11 all significantly mediate the relationship between early ACEs and delinquency in adolescence, with early delinquency and low self-control emerging as the most robust mediators. Conclusions: Findings point to a need for early ACEs screening and a Trauma-Informed Health Care (TIC) approach in early delinquency prevention efforts. Early intervention efforts that bolster child self-control and curtail early-onset problem behaviors may also disrupt pathways from ACEs to adolescent delinquency.

Though considerable research links both a lack of self-control and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to a variety of negative health and behavioral outcomes, few studies to date have explored whether ACEs are associated with deficits in self-control. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW; n = 3,444) and a life course theoretical framework, this study aims to address this gap in the literature by examining the relationships between individual ACEs, cumulative ACEs, timing of ACEs, and durations of early ACEs and self-control development among youth. Our results indicate that as the number of ACEs (by age 5) experienced incrementally increases, the likelihood of reported self-control decreases. Moreover, when it comes to the timing and duration of ACE exposure, ACEs that are high but late, intermittent, or chronically high significantly decrease self-control. Based on our findings, researchers should continue to explore the role of ACEs in youth self-control development.