Type versus timing of adverse and benevolent childhood experiences for pregnant women’s psychological and reproductive health

This study examined type and timing of childhood experiences – both adverse (ACEs; Felitti et al., 1998) and benevolent (BCEs, a novel index of childhood resources; Narayan, Rivera, Bernstein, Harris, & Lieberman, 2018) on several pregnancy-related outcomes. Participants were 101 low-income pregnant women (M = 29.10 years, SD = 6.56, range = 18–44; 37% Latina, 22% African-American, 20% White, 13% biracial/multiracial, 8% other) who completed the ACEs questionnaire for childhood maltreatment versus family dysfunction and the BCEs scale, including the ages when experiences occurred [i.e., 0–5 years (early childhood), 6–12 years (middle childhood), and 13–18 years (adolescence)]. They also reported on psychopathology symptoms, risky reproductive planning, stressful life events (SLEs), and demographics. Analyses supported type, rather than timing of experiences: specific experiences (i.e., maltreatment versus family dysfunction versus BCEs) predicted specific outcomes, regardless of the developmental period when they occurred. Specifically, maltreatment predicted PTSD symptoms, BCEs predicted risky reproductive planning, and family dysfunction and BCEs predicted SLEs. Experiences that began earlier were also more predictive than experiences that began later. Findings suggest that adverse versus benevolent childhood experiences are uniquely linked to adaptation during pregnancy and underscore the importance of also including BCEs in prenatal screening.