Finding Opportunities to Prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences in the Wake of the Opioid Crisis

JBA Director Erin Ingoldsby coauthored an original paper examining opportunities to prevent adverse childhood experiences in the wake of the opioid crisis. The peer-reviewed article appeared online in Springer Publishing’s Journal of Child and Family Studies on January 3. Other authors included Jennifer L. Matjasko, Joivita Bradford, and Sarah Treves-Kagan from the Division of Violence Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Gary Chovnick, Kristen Usher, and Elizabeth Vaughn from ICF.

The article’s findings emerged through the Formative Research on Opioids and Their Impact on Children, Youth, and Families: Identifying Opportunities for Injury Prevention project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers gathered information across six counties in three states to better understand protective factors against high overdose mortality and child entries into foster care. Findings point to the importance of primary prevention programs for children and youth and family-friendly substance use treatments for caregivers, although additional research is needed on the latter.