A New Measurement of Adverse Childhood Experiences Drawn from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement

A majority of children in the USA experience adversity in childhood that can negatively impact behavioral and health outcomes in adulthood and adolescence. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) framework is a conceptualization of adversity commonly used in health and social sciences research to measure adversity. ACEs researchers frequently employ cumulative risk measurement models, wherein risk factors are dichotomized and summed, yielding a value suitable for further regression analysis. This study describes the construction of an ACEs measurement utilizing a latent variable approach that allows for differential relationships between the indicators and the ACEs measurement, retention of variance within the indicators, and categorization of ACEs indicators along theoretical lines. The resulting two-factor model demonstrates an excellent fit for the data. Comparative tests indicate a significant increase in misfit when data is modeled as a single construct and when all indicators are constrained to being equally related to the measurement. Results from this study indicate the suitability of a latent factor approach to ACEs measurement to bypass difficulties presented by commonly used cumulative risk approaches to ACEs measurement. Additionally, tests of group invariance indicate the suitability of this two-factor model across gendered groups. This study adds to the emerging body of research using latent factor approaches to ACEs measurement. The ACEs measurement model in this study can be used in further research investigating the effects of ACEs utilizing the nationally representative Panel Study of Income Dynamics data set.