Objective: Studies on the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in Kashmir, India, are yet to be conducted. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of ACEs among young adults across all the ten districts of Kashmir Valley.
Methods: A cross-sectional research strategy was used to assess the prevalence of ACEs by employing a multi-stage sampling method. Data were collected from 800 students studying in different colleges and universities in Kashmir with the help of the "Adverse Childhood Experiences" (ACEs) scale.
Results: Findings disclosed that less than a quarter of the respondents reported high exposure to ACEs (15.4 %), more than one-tenth of the participants reported extremely high exposure to ACEs (13.4 %), over a quarter of the sample reported moderate exposure to ACEs (26.3 %), one-third of the youth reported low exposure to ACEs (33.0 %) and over one-tenth of the respondents reported no exposure to ACEs (11.8 %). The prevalence of ACEs was found to be 88.2 % (females: 82.7 % and males: 90.8 %) in Kashmir. The ACEs with the highest level of prevalence were "often or very often sworn at, insulted, or put down" (49.8 %), followed by "often or very often acted in a way that made them afraid that they would be physically hurt" (47.6 %), "often or very often pushed, grabbed, shoved, or slapped" (41.6 %), "often or very often hit so hard that they had marks or were injured" (28.3 %) and "touched or sexually fondled" (25.3 %). Thirteen out of 21 adverse events during childhood were significantly associated with gender.
Conclusion: The findings suggest the need to advocate early targeted interventions, reduce ACEs and their impact, and design efficient measures to improve the health and well-being of young adults in Kashmir.
Keywords: Adverse childhood experiences; Kashmir; Mental health; Physical abuse; Psychological abuse; Psychological support services; Young adults.
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