Table 1. Descriptive characteristics of the study population by number of adverse childhood experiences (ACE-IQ) (n = 26,198).
| Number of ACEs | ACE-IQ sum score | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total N (%) |
0 ACE N (%) |
1 ACE N (%) |
2 ACEs N (%) |
3–4 ACEsN (%) | ≥ 5 ACEsN (%) | p-value global* | Mean (SD) | p-value global† | |
| Total | 26,198 | 5,149 (19.7) | 5,567 (21.3) | 4,491 (17.1) | 5,640 (21.5) | 5,351 (20.4) | 2.6 (2.4) | ||
| Age, mean (SD) | 44.0 (13.6) | 43.7 (13.9) | 44.7 (13.9) | 44.6 (13.6) | 44.1 (13.4) | 43.1 (12.8) | < 0.001 | ||
| Age groups | |||||||||
| 18–29 years | 4,881 (18.6) | 1,043 (20.3) | 993 (17.8) | 805 (17.9) | 1,045 (18.5) | 995 (18.6) | < 0.001 | 2.6 (2.5) | < 0.001 |
| 30–39 years | 5,309 (20.3) | 1,074 (20.9) | 1,128 (20.3) | 864 (19.2) | 1,107 (19.6) | 1,136 (21.2) | 2.7 (2.4) | ||
| 40–49 years | 5,923 (22.6) | 1,092 (21.2) | 1,167 (21.0) | 1,003 (22.3) | 1,301 (23.1) | 1,360 (25.4) | 2.8 (2.5) | ||
| 50–59 years | 6,055 (23.1) | 1,091 (21.2) | 1,281 (23.0) | 1,088 (24.2) | 1,356 (24.0) | 1,239 (23.2) | 2.7 (2.4) | ||
| ≥ 60 years | 4,030 (15.4) | 849 (16.5) | 998 (17.9) | 731 (16.3) | 831 (14.7) | 621 (11.6) | 2.3 (2.2) | ||
| Educational level | |||||||||
| Primary education | 3,739 (14.3) | 442 (8.6) | 662 (11.9) | 602 (13.4) | 889 (15.8) | 1,144 (21.4) | < 0.001 | 3.4 (2.61) | < 0.001 |
| Secondary education | 8,013 (30.6) | 1,402 (27.2) | 1,658 (29.8) | 1,360 (30.3) | 1,744 (30.9) | 1,849 (34.6) | 2.8 (2.32) | ||
| Tertiary A (BSc or equivalent) | 8,359 (31.9) | 1,856 (36.0) | 1,872 (33.6) | 1,488 (33.1) | 1,782 (31.6) | 1,361 (25.4) | 2.3 (2.09) | ||
| Tertiary B (MSc or above) | 5,990 (22.9) | 1,437 (27.9) | 1,360 (24.4) | 1,022 (22.8) | 1,210 (21.5) | 961 (18.0) | 2.3 (2.08) | ||
| Unknown | 97 (0.4) | 12 (0.2) | 15 (0.3) | 19 (0.4) | 15 (0.3) | 36 (0.7) | 3.7 (2.59) | ||
| Civil status | |||||||||
| Married/in a relationship | 19,750 (75.4) | 4,061 (78.9) | 4,309 (77.4) | 3,442 (76.6) | 4,173 (74.0) | 3,765 (70.4) | < 0.001 | 2.5 (2.3) | < 0.001 |
| Single/widowed | 6,314 (24.1) | 1,070 (20.8) | 1,241 (22.3) | 1,030 (22.9) | 1,432 (25.4) | 1,541 (28.8) | 2.9 (2.5) | ||
| Unknown | 134 (0.5) | 18 (0.3) | 17 (0.3) | 19 (0.4) | 35 (0.6) | 45 (0.8) | 3.6 (2.8) | ||
| Employment status | |||||||||
| Employed/studying | 22,088 (84.3) | 4,639 (90.1) | 4,826 (86.7) | 3,888 (86.6) | 4,734 (83.9) | 4,001 (74.8) | < 0.001 | 2.5 (2.3) | < 0.001 |
| Retired/disability/sick leave | 3,941 (15.0) | 494 (9.6) | 718 (12.9) | 573 (12.8) | 854 (15.1) | 1,302 (24.3) | 3.5 (2.8) | ||
| Unknown | 169 (0.6) | 16 (0.3) | 23 (0.4) | 30 (0.7) | 52 (0.9) | 48 (0.9) | 3.5 (2.6) | ||
| Income | |||||||||
| Low income | 7,723 (29.5) | 1,206 (23.4) | 1,532 (27.5) | 1,216 (27.1) | 1,750 (31.0) | 2019 (37.7) | < 0.001 | 3.0 (2.6) | < 0.001 |
| Low-medium income | 7,862 (30.0) | 1,478 (28.7) | 1,663 (29.9) | 1,406 (31.3) | 1,717 (30.4) | 1,598 (29.9) | 2.6 (2.4) | ||
| Medium income | 6,050 (23.1) | 1,352 (26.3) | 1,363 (24.5) | 1,081 (24.1) | 1,236 (21.9) | 1,018 (19.0) | 2.3 (2.2) | ||
| High-medium income | 2,636 (10.1) | 654 (12.7) | 567 (10.2) | 466 (10.4) | 534 (9.5) | 415 (7.8) | 2.2 (2.2) | ||
| High income | 929 (3.5) | 250 (4.9) | 226 (4.1) | 141 (3.1) | 196 (3.5) | 116 (2.2) | 2.0 (2.0) | ||
| Unknown | 998 (3.8) | 209 (4.1) | 216 (3.9) | 181 (4.0) | 207 (3.7) | 185 (3.5) | 2.5 (2.4) | ||
| Childhood deprivation | |||||||||
| Never | 19,727 (75.3) | 4,843 (94.1) | 4,919 (88.4) | 3,628 (80.8) | 3,954 (70.1) | 2,383 (44.5) | < 0.001 | 2.0 (2.0) | < 0.001 |
| Rarely | 2,929 (11.2) | 218 (4.2) | 430 (7.7) | 516 (11.5) | 833 (14.8) | 932 (17.4) | 3.5 (2.4) | ||
| Sometimes | 2,320 (8.9) | 71 (1.4) | 193 (3.5) | 278 (6.2) | 627 (11.1) | 1,151 (21.5) | 4.6 (2.5) | ||
| Often | 1,169 (4.5) | 15 (0.3) | 21 (0.4) | 60 (1.3) | 206 (3.7) | 867 (16.2) | 6.3 (2.6) | ||
| Unknown | 53 (0.2) | 2 (0.0) | 4 (0.1) | 9 (0.2) | 20 (0.4) | 18 (0.3) | 3.8 (2.0) | ||
| Perceived social support | |||||||||
| Low | 6,332 (24.2) | 747 (14.5) | 995 (17.9) | 972 (21.6) | 1,582 (28.0) | 2036 (38.0) | < 0.001 | 3.5 (2.7) | < 0.001 |
| Moderate | 12,831 (40.0) | 2,487 (48.3) | 2,833 (50.9) | 2,282 (50.8) | 2,762 (49.0) | 2,467 (46.1) | 2.5 (2.3) | ||
| High | 6,151 (23.5) | 1,790 (34.8) | 1,579 (28.4) | 1,102 (24.5) | 1,075 (19.1) | 605 (11.3) | 1.8 (1.9) | ||
| Unknown | 884 (3.4) | 125 (2.4) | 160 (2.9) | 135 (3.0) | 221 (3.9) | 243 (4.5) | 3.2 (2.5) | ||
*
p-values were obtained by χ2 tests, except for mean age which was compared with an ANOVA.
†
p-values were obtained by ANOVA.