Incidence of Psychotic Disorders Among Children with Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Retrospective Birth Cohort Study Using Health Administrative Data
Abstract
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with psychotic disorders. However, this association has not been examined at the population level. The objective of this thesis was to use health administrative data to estimate the risk of psychotic disorders during adolescence and early adulthood among people who accessed health care for ACEs. ACEs occurring prior to age 12 years were identified in the health administrative data, and follow-up to identify first-onset psychotic disorders occurred from 12 to 27-31 years of age. The results indicated that ACEs increase the risk of psychotic disorders. Furthermore, the risk increases with increasing number of types of ACEs. The incident rate ratio (IRR) for 4+ ACEs was 4.04 (95% Confidence Interval: 3.26 to 5.01). Our findings add to the existing literature on the association between ACEs and psychotic disorders.