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New study of fathers in prison shows how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) continue from one generation to the next

Published: 24 October 2024

New research from Public Health Wales and Bangor University, highlights how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are experienced across generations. The study published in Child Protection and Practice, analysed data collected from 294 fathers aged 18 to 69 years in a Welsh prison. Fathers reported on their own exposure to ACEs and the ACEs that their children had been exposed to.

ACEs are stressful events that occur during childhood, such as abuse, parental separation or divorce, having a family member in prison or growing up in a household where domestic violence, substance misuse or mental illness is present. Almost half of the participating fathers in prison reported having four or more ACEs, with a third reporting living with someone who served time or was sentenced to serve time in a prison or young offenders’ institution before the age of 18.

Exposure to multiple ACEs has been shown to profoundly impact an individuals’ health and wellbeing over their lifetime, significantly increasing risks of health-harming behaviours and poor physical and mental health.  

Of the 671 children reported on by the fathers in prison, a fifth were reported to have been exposed to four or more ACEs. Father ACE exposure was found to increase the risk of child exposure to both individual ACE types and multiple ACEs. Thus, compared to children of fathers with no ACEs, children of fathers who had experienced four or more ACEs were: 

  • almost three times more likely to be exposed to two to three ACEs and six times more likely to be exposed to four or more ACEs 
  • two times more likely to be exposed to domestic violence 
  • over seven times more likely to live in a household where mental illness was present

Furthermore, child exposure to each individual ACE type, except sexual and physical abuse, was associated with their father having had experienced the same ACE.  

Findings have significant implications for public health and criminal justice services. To prevent ACEs and limit their negative effects, criminal justice services need to be trauma informed and ACE aware. Wider approaches that support whole families to prevent ACEs and build resilience are also required, particularly for those already in contact with criminal justice systems.

Dr Kat Ford, Bangor University said: 

“ACEs can increase people’s risks of a wide range of health and social difficulties throughout life, such as substance use, mental ill health and violence. In turn these difficulties can become ACEs for the next generation. The study adds further weight to a growing body of evidence which highlights the need for focus on the prevention of ACEs.” 

Professor Karen Hughes from the Policy and International Health Directorate at Public Health Wales said: 

“Prison populations often report substantial adversity in their childhood histories and the inter-generational transmission of ACEs seen in our study highlights the importance of support for justice-involved families”.