Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Jan 6.
doi: 10.1007/s10578-024-01807-x. Online ahead of print.

Impact of Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs): A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies

Kannan Kallapiran  1   2   3 , Shuichi Suetani  4   5   6 , Vanessa Cobham  4   7 , Valsamma Eapen  8 , James Scott  9   7   10
Affiliations
Review

Impact of Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs): A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies

Kannan Kallapiran et al. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. .

Abstract

Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) may mitigate the negative outcomes resulting from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). To date, most PCE research has used cross-sectional or retrospective designs. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, PsychINFO, CINAHL, and Scopus were searched in May 2024 for longitudinal studies that examined the impact of cumulative PCEs. Eight publications from five longitudinal studies with a total of 16,451 participants were included. Three studies focused only on adolescent outcomes. PCEs were associated with reduced rates of depression, substance use, delinquent behavior, risky sexual behavior, persistent insomnia, and lower inflammatory markers. Cumulative PCEs in childhood may moderate the impact of ACEs, potentially playing an important role in reducing the risk for mental disorders and other adverse outcomes later in life.PROSPERO (ID: CRD42022384775).

Keywords: Prevention; Promotion; Resilience; Support.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Felitti VJ, Anda RF, Nordenberg D, Williamson DF, Spitz AM, Edwards V, Koss MP, Marks JS (1998) Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. The adverse childhood experiences (ACE) study. Am J Prev Med 14(4):245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0749-3797(98)00017-8 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Petruccelli K, Davis J, Berman T (2019) Adverse childhood experiences and associated health outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Child Abuse Neglect 97:104127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104127 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Anda RF, Butchart A, Felitti VJ, Brown DW (2010) Building a framework for global surveillance of the public health implications of adverse childhood experiences. Am J Prev Med 39(1):93–98 - DOI - PubMed
    1. CDC (2019) Preventing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs): leveraging the best available evidence. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    1. Marie-Mitchell A, Kostolansky R (2019) A systematic review of trials to improve child outcomes associated with adverse childhood experiences. Am J Prev Med 56(5):756–764. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2018.11.030 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources