The Prevalence of ACEs in adults with learning disabilities
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An Investigation of the Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences in a Cohort of Adults with Learning Disabilities Who Are Referred to a Specialist Learning Disability Psychology Service Within the Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust.
IRAS ID
292274
Contact name
Corrina Willmoth
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
A research project is proposed to investigate the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) for adults with learning disabilities who are referred to a Specialist Learning Disabilities psychology service.Research suggests that people with a learning disability are more likely to have experienced a range of negative experiences during their childhood. (Catani & Sossalla, 2015; Vervoort-Schel et al., 2018; Northway, 2017). This research aims to collect and initial data set on the prevalence of ACEs in a cohort of people with a learning disability. This will help to inform service development by implementing more evidence-based interventions that will consider the influence of ACEs. It is then hoped that this could lead to better outcomes of interventions, greatly benefiting service users.
Adults referred to the Psychology service in the Community Learning Disability Team within the Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust will be eligible to take part in the study. There are certain eligibility criteria for people to be referred to this service. Participants who agreed to partake in the study will be required to read an accessible information sheet, read and sign an accessible consent form and then complete an accessible ACEs questionnaire which includes 10 questions about their experiences during childhood. This will all be completed in the presence of the Psychologist allocated to the service user.
All data will be collected within the Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust as participants will all be service users of the trust. It is expected that the participants will complete the questionnaire either in their own home, clinic room or virtually online during a session with their Psychologist. The study is set to run over a three-month period and include approximately 35 participants.
Summary of Results
Findings
Our sample broadly followed the general population trend for number of ACEs experienced, with 62% of participants experiencing at least one ACE (general population 67%), and 23% of participants encountering 4 or more ACEs (general population 16%)Conclusions
People with Learning Disabilities may report Adverse Childhood Experiences when asked about them. Whilst this was a small sample, the statistical distribution was similar to that found in the wider population. It may therefore be important for health professionals to enquire more specifically about ACEs during treatment interventions.REC name
East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/EE/0126
Date of REC Opinion
29 Nov 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion