After Five Years: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Response to Surviving Illness Contribute to Shorter Life Expectancy

ABSTRACT

Initial research in 2012 described the psychological responses of 32 older adult survivors of critical illness. At the five year follow up in 2017, 15 participants were deceased. Only 2 of these 15 participants achieved their expected life span. Quantitative and qualitative analysis comparing deceased vs. surviving participants yielded significant results. The deceased participants who died 10 to 14 years before their life expectancy were more likely to have experienced severe trauma in childhood, followed by reoccurring illnesses as adults. Deceased participants’ survival was also impacted by their approach to coping with their recovery after illness. Significant correlations were found between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), illness approach, reoccurring illness and death before life expectancy. A key conclusion is that the impact of childhood trauma should be studied across the entire life course. Social workers for older adults must consider the personal complexity of each client’s experience, by exploring unique personal and historical traumas that are not listed on the ACE Scale. Psycho-education can be utilized to teach older adults coping strategies and increase psychological agency.

KEYWORDS:

• ACE Study
• Older adults
• Critical illness
• Childhood trauma
• Life expectancy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Liz B. Johnston

Liz Johnston, PhD, LCSW is the Assistant Professor of Social Work at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, CA. Dr. Johnston received her MSW (1984) and PhD (2013) from the Smith College School for Social Work, MA.  Since 1984, she has worked in a variety of counseling agencies and as a medical social worker. Currently she is in private practice specializing in recovery from addiction, PTSD and trauma.  She also facilitates a monthly Frontal Temporal Dementia caregiver support group.