Which Kids Run the Greatest Risk of Multiple Adverse Experiences?

Nation­wide, 22% of chil­dren have had mul­ti­ple adverse expe­ri­ences, accord­ing to data from 2015–2016.

The risk of hav­ing mul­ti­ple adverse expe­ri­ences runs high­er for Amer­i­can Indi­an kids (37%) and African-Amer­i­can kids (34%). This sta­tis­tic also varies by geo­graph­ic loca­tion, peak­ing at 31% for kids liv­ing in Ari­zona and dip­ping to just 15% for kids in New York and Maryland.

Adverse expe­ri­ences can cause inor­di­nate stress to matur­ing brains, which can neg­a­tive­ly impact a child’s devel­op­ment as well as their long-term health and suc­cess. Qual­i­fy­ing expe­ri­ences include parental divorce or sep­a­ra­tion, parental death, parental incar­cer­a­tion, fam­i­ly or neigh­bor­hood vio­lence, men­tal ill­ness and abuse, fre­quent socioe­co­nom­ic hard­ship and racial bias.

Access more fam­i­ly and com­mu­ni­ty data on the KIDS COUNT Data Center:

• Chil­dren who have expe­ri­enced two or more adverse experiences
• Chil­dren who have expe­ri­enced two or more adverse expe­ri­ences by race and ethnicity