ACAMH’s ACEs special interest group are proud to present our second annual conference ‘Adversity, Protection, and Prevention: Rethinking Childhood Experiences Through New Evidence’.
There is a growing understanding of the harmful effects of exposure to adversity, including forms of maltreatment, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, bullying; household stressors exposure to mental health, domestic violence – substance abuse; environmental stressors, housing and nutritional insecurity, poverty, job insecurity, living in deprived, violent, or unsafe neighbourhoods, forced migration and displacement, extreme weather events, discrimination.
Current research describes a causal chain, psychosocial and physical toxic stressors trigger a cascade of dysregulations in the neuroendocrine, immune, and metabolic systems, which can have long impacts on mental and physical health – partnering and parenting. Current work is also focusing on protective factors, defined as environmental, social, or individual variables that promote resilience and disrupt the trajectory from risk to pathology which may play a critical role in mitigating the effects of adversity, creating a positive developmental cascade.
Booking
Sign up at this link or on the Book Now button at the top of the screen, and complete the form that follows. You’ll then receive an email confirmation and a link to the webinar, plus we’ll send you a calendar reminder nearer the time. Delegates will have exclusive access to recordings for 90 days after the event, together with slides. Plus you will get a personalised CPD/CME certificate via email.
- ACAMH Members MUST login to book onto the webinar in order to access this webinar and get a CPD/CME certificate
- Non-members this is a great time to join ACAMH, take a look at what we have to offer, and make the saving on these sessions
EARLY BIRD £99 (until 14/07/26, then £119) for ACAMH Members (Print, Online, Concession) Join now and save
EARLY BIRD £159 (until 14/07/26, then £179) ACAMH Learn Account holders
EARLY BIRD £159 (until 14/07/26, then £179) Non Members
£5 ACAMH Undergraduate/Postgraduate Members
LIC Members free
Don’t forget as a charity any surplus made is reinvested back as we work to our vision of ‘Sharing best evidence, improving practice’, and our mission to ‘Improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people aged 0-25’.
About the talks
Associate Professor Jessie Baldwin – Identifying causal resilience factors in the context of childhood adversity
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with elevated risk for mental health difficulties, but many children exposed to ACEs do not develop such difficulties. Identifying factors that promote resilience to adversity is therefore critical for informing preventative interventions. However, a central challenge in resilience research is distinguishing causal protective effects from associations driven by confounding. This talk presents evidence from two complementary studies that apply causal inference methods to address this problem.
First, we investigate whether adult social support causally protects adolescents exposed to ACEs from developing mental health problems. Leveraging a discordant twin design, we test whether differences in adult social support predict differences in mental health outcomes among twins exposed to adversity. This design strengthens causal inference by accounting for unmeasured familial confounding including genetic influences and the shared family environment.
Second, we investigate whether increased economic resources can mitigate mental health risk among children exposed to early adversity associated with maternal depression. Capitalising on a natural experiment, we test whether exogenous increases in family income via cash transfers are associated with lower risk of child mental health problems, following exposure to maternal depression. This design strengthens causal inference by reducing bias from unmeasured confounding.
Together, these studies illustrate how distinct causal inference strategies can clarify the role of both social and structural factors in shaping resilience to ACEs. The findings underscore the value of moving beyond correlational evidence to identify modifiable targets for prevention and intervention, following childhood adversity.
Learning outcomes
- To understand the challenges of identifying factors that promote resilience following ACEs in observational research
- To understand how quasi-experimental methods (such as discordant twin and natural experiment designs) can strengthen causal inference about the roles of protective factors
- To understand what quasi-experimental evidence suggests about the role of adult social support in mental health outcomes among adolescents exposed to ACEs
- To understand what quasi-experimental evidence suggests about the role of economic resources in shaping mental health risk following early adversity
Associate Professor Franziska Meinck – Violence across generations: what are the underlying mechanisms and how can we prevent continuation
Ending violence is one of the targets of the United Nations SDGs; however, we lack an evidence-base for understanding the underlying mechanisms of and promising interventions for the intra- and intergenerational transmission of violence, particularly in regions with high rates of interpersonal violence such as Southern Africa. I will be presenting ongoing work within a mixed-methods three-generational cohort study in South Africa examining the underlying mechanisms for intergenerational violence continuity and potential mechanisms for protection.
The presentation will draw on data from 1304 young adults, their children (n=280), and their former primary caregiver during adolescence(n=602) who completed standardised questionnaires using validated measures in rural and peri-urban areas of South Africa. I will also present data from purposefully recruited participants selected for in-depth review using arts-based methods resulting in 77 interviews (20 caregivers, 33 young adults and 24 children) and further in-depth reviews with 7 complete families who disclosed large amounts of violence during their in-depth interview.
Learning outcomes
- Understand the concept of intergenerational violence continuity
- Understand what puts families at risk and of intergenerational violence continuity
- Identify mechanisms for prevention
- Discuss on how to work together to prevent intergenerational violence continuity
Dr. Kat Ford – From Childhood Harm to Adult Health: Trends and Impacts of Physical and Verbal Abuse
This talk explores how adverse childhood experiences, especially childhood physical and verbal abuse, shape mental well-being long into adulthood. Drawing on data from UK ACE studies, it highlights how ACEs are linked to poorer adult health and well-being.
The session reveals striking generational trends in physical and verbal abuse. It highlights how these shifts have major implications for public health prevention.
The talk situates these findings within wider ACEs research, showing that emotional harm can be just as damaging as physical harm, and that strong relationships and supportive environments can protect against long-term impacts. Attendees will gain a clear picture of patterns in childhood adversity, its consequences for adult mental health, and where early intervention and resilience-building efforts can make the biggest difference.
Learning outcomes
- Understand how different forms of childhood adversity affect adult mental well being.
- Recognise changing trends of childhood abuse in the UK and their implications for public health prevention.
- Identify key protective factors that buffer the impact of ACEs and support resilience.
Athena Chow – Beyond the Cumulative Score: An Exploratory Dimensional Approach to Childhood Adversity and Mental Health
While it is well-established that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase the risk of mental health challenges, we still lack a consensus on the best way to conceptualise them. Traditionally, ACEs are summed into a cumulative risk score; however, this approach often obscures the nuances of how different types of adversity shape psychopathology.
In this talk, I present findings from a large-scale, data-driven study involving over 30,000 children across two contemporary longitudinal cohorts: the UK Millennium Cohort Study and the US Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. By investigating a wide range of ACEs—such as parental psychopathology, emotional neglect, and peer victimisation—we found that these experiences are best captured by core underlying dimensions: parental threat, deprivation, and victimisation.
Attendees will learn why a “one-size-fits-all” approach to adversity fails to capture the full picture. I will highlight our discovery that victimisation emerges as a distinct and particularly potent dimension, showing the strongest associations with both internalising and externalising symptoms in adolescence. Ultimately, I will discuss how shifting toward a data-driven, dimensional understanding of ACEs can help us better identify specific pathways of risk and refine the interventions designed to support vulnerable youth.
Learning outcomes
- To understand the limitations of cumulative risk scores in conceptualising adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
- To identify the core dimensions of ACEs (threat, deprivation, and victimisation) and how they manifest across different populations.
- To recognise victimisation as a distinct and potent adversity that requires specific attention in clinical and policy-based interventions.
Programme
Chair – Arnon Bentovim and Jenny Gray – ACAMHs ACEs Special Interest Group
09:00 Dr. Kat Ford – Comparative relationships between physical and verbal abuse of children, life course mental well-being and trends in exposure, and interventions
09:30 Professor David Blanchflower – The consequences of abuse, neglect and cyber-bullying on the wellbeing of the young
10:00 Athena Chow – Meaningful dimensions of childhood adversity and the link with mental health responses
10:30 Discussion
10:45 Comfort Break
11:15 Professor Eamon McCrory – Impact of adversity on social functioning and mental health
11:45 Associate Professor Franziska Meinck – Mechanisms underpinning the intergenerational transmission of Violence Perpetration
12:15 Discussion
12:30 Lunch
13:15 Associate Professor Jessie Baldwin – Can a warm and supportive adult protect against mental health problems amongst children with experience of adversity?
13:45 Professor Charles A. Nelson III – Early adversity alters brain architecture and increases susceptibility to Mental Health disorders and Non- Communicable Health Outcomes, Challenges and Opportunities
14:25 Professor Shanta R. Dube – Responses to ACEs associated with development of Substance Abuse Disorder SUD and a trauma informed intervention
15:00 Discussion
15:15 Comfort Break
15.30 Dr. Patricia Bianca Torres, and Dr. Daniel Andre Ignacio – Predicting Flourishing in ADHD Youth: Positive Childhood Experiences and Mood Disturbances in Context of Adversity
16:00 Associate Professor Angela Narayan – Benevolent Childhood Experiences (BCEs) as Resilience Factors Counteract Childhood Adversity for Long-Term Health and Wellbeing”
16:45 Discussion
17:00 Close
About the speakers
Athena Chow is a Research Fellow in Mental Health at University College London (UCL), where she applies advanced causal inference methods to understand how mental health challenges are transmitted from one generation to the next. Previously, Athena completed her PhD in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, using data from longitudinal cohort studies to study the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on adolescent psychopathology. Athena’s current work integrates causal inference and genetically informative designs, with a commitment to co-produced research. Ultimately, she strives to identify protective factors that can inform effective interventions and foster resilience in vulnerable youth.
Jessie Baldwin is an Associate Professor and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at University College London. Her research examines the role of environmental risk and protective factors for mental health problems, with a particular focus on childhood adversity. She focuses on distinguishing causal effects from correlations, to better inform prevention and intervention strategies. Her work integrates insights from psychology, epidemiology, and behavioural genetics, with the goal of improving outcomes for children and young people.
Dr. Kat Ford is the research lead in the Public Health Collaborating Unit at Bangor University, specialising in violence prevention and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). She has worked on numerous regional and national ACE studies, including leading the first UK exploration of ACEs in an offender population. A mixed‑methods researcher, Kat brings expertise in survey design, evaluation, evidence synthesis, and working with vulnerable groups in high‑risk settings. Her role is funded by Public Health Wales, where she collaborates closely with the WHO Collaborating Centre on Investment for Health and Well‑being.
Franziska Meinck is an Associate Professor in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh and Honorary Associate Professor at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Her research focuses on the epidemiology and aetiology of violence against children. She was co-investigator of the Australian Child Maltreatment Study and currently leads the world’s first three-generational study on intergenerational violence continuity. She has also worked extensively on the improvement of violence against children measurement and on ethical research involving young children and their families.
Booking
Sign up at this link or on the Book Now button at the top of the screen, and complete the form that follows. You’ll then receive an email confirmation and a link to the webinar, plus we’ll send you a calendar reminder nearer the time. Delegates will have exclusive access to recordings for 90 days after the event, together with slides. Plus you will get a personalised CPD/CME certificate via email.
- ACAMH Members MUST login to book onto the webinar in order to access this webinar and get a CPD/CME certificate
- Non-members this is a great time to join ACAMH, take a look at what we have to offer, and make the saving on these sessions
EARLY BIRD £99 (until 14/07/26, then £119) for ACAMH Members (Print, Online, Concession) Join now and save
EARLY BIRD £159 (until 14/07/26, then £179) ACAMH Learn Account holders
EARLY BIRD £159 (until 14/07/26, then £179) Non Members
£5 ACAMH Undergraduate/Postgraduate Members
LIC Members free
Don’t forget as a charity any surplus made is reinvested back as we work to our vision of ‘Sharing best evidence, improving practice’, and our mission to ‘Improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people aged 0-25’.