Adverse childhood experiences and offending among Hispanic adults in the US: Examining differences in prevalence and effects across nativity

Objectives: The first objective is to examine the relationships between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and violent and nonviolent offending across generations of Hispanic adults in the United States. The second objective is to examine whether these relationships vary based on nativity. Methods: Data come from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC-III; N = 6866 Hispanic adults). Negative-binomial regression was used to estimate the relationships between ACEs and offending. Analyses for violent and nonviolent offending were conducted separately. Comparisons were made across nativity by examining the differences in the marginal effects across groups. Results: A wider range of ACEs were associated with violent offending among native-born U.S. Hispanics. The number of ACEs associated with nonviolent offending across nativity was comparable with some differences in magnitude. Cumulative ACEs were significant for all groups across both types of offending but varied in magnitude across nativity. Conclusions: Nativity contextualizes the relationship between ACEs and offending among U.S. Hispanics, especially for violent behavior. However, there is notable comparability between groups as well. These results highlight the importance of ACEs on later adult outcomes and the need to better consider how demographic and cultural factors can inform those relationships.