Measuring Positive Childhood Experiences: Testing the Structural and Predictive Validity of the Health Outcomes From Positive Experiences (HOPE) Framework

Shuaijun Guo; Meredith O'Connor; Fiona Mensah; Craig A Olsson; Sharon Goldfeld; Rebecca E Lacey; Natalie Slopen; Katherine A Thurber; Naomi Priest

doi:10.1016/j.acap.2021.11.003

Measuring Positive Childhood Experiences: Testing the Structural and Predictive Validity of the Health Outcomes From Positive Experiences (HOPE) Framework

Acad Pediatr. 2022 Aug;22(6):942-951. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2021.11.003. Epub 2021 Nov 18.

Authors

Shuaijun Guo¹, Meredith O'Connor², Fiona Mensah³, Craig A Olsson⁴, Sharon Goldfeld¹, Rebecca E Lacey⁵, Natalie Slopen⁶, Katherine A Thurber⁷, Naomi Priest⁸

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital (S Guo, S Goldfeld, and N Priest), Melbourne, Australia; Department of Pediatrics, University of Melbourne (S Guo, M O'Connor, F Mensah, and S Goldfeld), Melbourne, Australia.
² Department of Pediatrics, University of Melbourne (S Guo, M O'Connor, F Mensah, and S Goldfeld), Melbourne, Australia; Melbourne Children's LifeCourse Initiative, Murdoch Children's Research Institute (M O'Connor), Melbourne, Australia.
³ Department of Pediatrics, University of Melbourne (S Guo, M O'Connor, F Mensah, and S Goldfeld), Melbourne, Australia; Intergenerational Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute (F Mensah), Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital (CA Olsson), Melbourne, Australia; Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University (CA Olsson), Geelong, Australia.
⁵ Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London (RE Lacey), London, United Kingdom.
⁶ Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health (N Slopen), Boston, Mass.
⁷ National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University (KA Thurber), Canberra, Australia.
⁸ Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital (S Guo, S Goldfeld, and N Priest), Melbourne, Australia; Centre for Social Research & Methods, The Australian National University (N Priest), Canberra, Australia. Electronic address: naomi.priest@anu.edu.au.

PMID: 34801761
DOI: 10.1016/j.acap.2021.11.003

Abstract

Objective: Positive childhood experiences (PCEs), that occur within secure and nurturing social environments, are fundamental to healthy physical, social-emotional, and cognitive development. However, reliable measures of these experiences are not yet widely available. We used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) to empirically represent and psychometrically evaluate 3 primary domains of PCEs defined within the Health Outcomes from Positive Experiences (HOPE) framework, specifically: 1) nurturing and supportive relationships; 2) safe and protective environments and; 3) constructive social engagement and connectedness.

Methods: LSAC is a nationally representative cohort that has followed young Australians from birth since 2004. LSAC data were used to represent the 3 primary HOPE-PCEs domains (birth to 11 years) across 4 inter-related PCEs constructs: 1) positive parenting, 2) trusting and supportive relationships, 3) supportive neighborhood and home learning environments, and 4) social engagement and enjoyment. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the proposed 4-factor structure. Predictive validity was examined through associations with mental health problems and academic difficulties at 14 to 15 years.

Results: The 4-factor structure was supported by empirical data at each time point. Higher exposure to PCEs across each domain was associated with lower reporting of mental health problems (β = -0.20 to -2.05) and academic difficulties (β = -0.01 to -0.13) in adolescence.

Conclusions: The 4 LSAC-based HOPE-PCEs have sufficient internal coherence and predictive validity to offer a potentially useful way of conceptualizing and measuring PCEs in future cohort studies and intervention trials aiming to enhance the understanding of, and mitigate the negative impacts of, adverse childhood experiences.

Keywords: academic skills; children; longitudinal studies; mental health; positive experiences.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adverse Childhood Experiences*
Australia
Child
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Outcome Assessment, Health Care
Parenting*