Citation

McGavock L, Spratt T. Br. J. Soc. Work 2017; 47(4): 1128–1146.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/bjsw/bcw073

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The identification of those children with high probability of experiencing poor health and social outcomes over the life course is a policy and service priority. In this paper, findings from a student population survey (n = 765) to determine the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) is reported. It was found that, for those students reporting ACE scores of 1 or more, experience of domestic violence was the best predictor for higher ACE scores, with 86.0 per cent reporting a score of 4+: a pattern holding true for those students reporting female directed domestic violence and those reporting male-directed violence. Students reporting ACE scores of 4+ were twenty-three times more likely to have had contact with social workers than those with scores of 0. These findings indicate the need for service providers to further assess cases referred for reasons of domestic violence, screening for co-occurring of ACE to help inform service prioritisation. It is further argued that the development of research into factors predictive of poor long-term outcomes further advances the incremental task of creating an evidence base to both inform and transform prioritisation of services to those children and families referred to social work agencies.

Language: en