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Childhood and adolescent/young adult (AYA) cancer survivors experience poor health outcomes in adulthood. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) also portend poor health outcomes for the general population. Resilience can mitigate effects of ACEs. We examined the feasibility of assessing ACEs and resilience in childhood/AYA cancer patients. We also described occurrences of ACEs, resilience, and poor health outcomes. Of 52 participants, most rated their study experience favorably, with privacy in answering sensitive questions. Half reported ACEs, and those with ACEs had lower resilience, X(2)(3,N=52)=9.4,p=0.02. Further investigations of ACEs and resilience in larger cohorts are warranted to delineate associations with long-term health outcomes.

Objective To identify the clustering of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that best characterize child welfare-involved children with known complex health concerns. Data source Multi-informant data were obtained from Wave I of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II). Study design This study used a cross-sectional design and classification and regression tree (CART) analyses. Data collection Data were collected from families with children, aged birth to 17, investigated for child maltreatment and their child protective services caseworkers, including demographic characteristics of the children, their histories of adversity, and a wide range of health concerns. Principal findings Results indicate that for children between the ages of six and 17, experiences of physical abuse alone, as well as experiences of physical abuse combined with having a caregiver with mental illness, are most strongly associated with complex health concerns. For children aged 2-5 years, results suggest that caregiver mental illness is a key adverse experience associated with complex health concerns. Conclusions Identifying specific combinations of ACEs may be a critical next step for child- and youth-serving agencies to allow providers to better calculate risk of health problems among children exposed to adversity.

To identify the clustering of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that best characterize child welfare-involved children with known complex health concerns.Multi-informant data were obtained from Wave I of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II).This study used a cross-sectional design and classification and regression tree (CART) analyses.Data were collected from families with children, aged birth to 17, investigated for child maltreatment and their child protective services caseworkers, including demographic characteristics of the children, their histories of adversity, and a wide range of health concerns.Results indicate that for children between the ages of six and 17, experiences of physical abuse alone, as well as experiences of physical abuse combined with having a caregiver with mental illness, are most strongly associated with complex health concerns. For children aged 2-5 years, results suggest that caregiver mental illness is a key adverse experience associated with complex health concerns.Identifying specific combinations of ACEs may be a critical next step for child- and youth-serving agencies to allow providers to better calculate risk of health problems among children exposed to adversity.

In the USA, African-American children are overrepresented in the child welfare system. However, little is known about the child welfare system experiences of biracial children, who are predominately both White and African-American. To better understand this population, data from public child welfare in a US county were used to examine biracial children in the child welfare system. Results showed significant racial differences between children in the child welfare system. Despite the common belief that biracial children will have experiences similar to African-American children, the child welfare system seems to view them differently. Biracial children are more likely to be referred, rated as high risk and investigated compared with White or African-American children. Their mothers were younger, and were more often assessed as having physical, intellectual or emotional problems. These caregivers were also considered to have lower parenting skills and knowledge compared with White or African-American caregivers. Although the disproportionate representation of African-American children in the system has been well documented, this study provides evidence that biracial children are also overrepresented. Despite the fact that this is a rapidly growing population in the USA, there is little research available about biracial children and their families.

This study examined Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) among a nationally representative sample of African-American and White children investigated for maltreatment in the US. While FGDM was developed for work with ethnic minority families, there is no research on how this is being carried out in the US, where African-American children are overrepresented in child welfare services. The study views racial differences in child, caregiver and maltreatment characteristics related to FGDM; composition of FGDM meetings; service referrals and receipt; and service satisfaction. Data are from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW), a study of 5501 children ages 0–14. Current analyses include African-American and White children (n= 4129). Stratified, bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were used. Results showed that while race was not related FGDM receipt, different characteristics lead to FGDM among African-American and White families. Surprisingly, caregivers report feeling no more involved in decision-making in association with FGDM. FGDM is provided at low rates overall (10%) and less frequently among White caseworkers. Child access to mental health services increases in relation to FGDM. Implications are discussed.