A recently-published paper by DUPRI scholar Scott Lynch and co-authors Christina Kamis and William Copeland in Society and Mental Health, titled "Associations between Configurations of Childhood Adversity and Adult Mental Health Disorder Outcomes" employs a life-course approach to analyze the influence of adverse childhood events on subsequent adult mental health.
The life course perspective and cumulative inequality theory suggest that childhood adversity, occurring during a sensitive period of the life course, can have long-term consequences for adult mental health and well-being. Yet, the long-term influence of adversity on adult outcomes may depend on both the features of adverse childhood experiences (e.g., the number, type, and co-occurrence of adversities) as well as the outcome assessed. Using latent class analysis applied to several waves of prospective data from the Great Smoky Mountains Study (GSMS; N = 1,420), the authors identify subpopulations that are similar in their adversity experiences before age 18. The authors then predict adult internalizing and substance use disorder diagnoses by adversity experience. Results reveal five distinct classes of adversity, with unique risks for specific diagnoses in adulthood.