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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1397012
This article is part of the Research Topic Science Diplomacy and Neocolonialism: Lessons from the field with a view to the future View all 4 articles

The Long Shadow of Accumulating Adverse Childhood Experiences on Mental Health in the United Arab Emirates: Implications for Policy and Practice.

Provisionally accepted
Anthony Murphy Anthony Murphy 1*Dawn England Dawn England 1Iffat Elbarazi Iffat Elbarazi 2Neal Horen Neal Horen 3Toby Long Toby Long 3Zeina Ismail-Allouche Zeina Ismail-Allouche 4Cairo Arafat Cairo Arafat 5
  • 1 University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
  • 2 United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
  • 3 Georgetown College, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States
  • 4 Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  • 5 Early Childhood Authority, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study investigates the cumulative effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on adult depression, anxiety, and stress in Abu Dhabi, controlling for demographic factors, lifestyle, and known health and mental health diagnoses. Utilizing a cross-sectional design and self-report measures, the research aims to fill a critical gap in understanding the specific impacts of ACEs in the UAE. Based on a multi-site, cross-sectional community sample of 697 residents of Abu Dhabi, findings reveal significant variances in current screening values for depression, anxiety, and stress attributable to ACEs after controlling for demographic factors, lifestyle risk factors, and adult diagnoses of health and mental health conditions. The results underline the lifelong impact of ACEs and reinforce the importance of early identification and intervention. In particular, the implications for policy and practice in understanding and mitigating ACEs' long-term effects on mental health are considered.

    Keywords: Child Abuse, child neglect, Adverse childhood experiences, United Arab Emirates, Adult outcomes

    Received: 06 Mar 2024; Accepted: 20 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Murphy, England, Elbarazi, Horen, Long, Ismail-Allouche and Arafat. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Anthony Murphy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.