Associations of adverse childhood experiences with blood pressure among early adolescents in the United States

The associations of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with blood pressure in adulthood are inconclusive. Similarly, the association between ACEs and blood pressure earlier in the life course is understudied. This study aims to assess the associations of ACEs with blood pressure among early adolescents. We utilized data collected at baseline (age: 9-10 years) and Year 2 follow-up from 4077 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. We used adjusted multiple linear regression models to estimate the associations of ACEs (cumulative score and subtypes) at baseline with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at year 2 of follow-up. Experiencing ≥4 ACEs (compared to 0) was significantly associated with higher SBP (B = 3.31, 95 % CI 0.03, 6.57, p = 0.048). Of the ACEs subtypes, household substance use (B = 2.28, 95 % CI 0.28, 4.28, p = 0.028) and divorce or separation (B = 2.08, 95 % CI 0.01, 4.15, p = 0.048) were both significantly associated with a higher SBP while household mental illness (B = 2.57, 95 % CI 1.32, 3.81, p < 0.001) was significantly associated with a higher DBP. Our findings suggest that exposure to multiple ACEs is associated with higher blood pressure in adolescence.