Adverse Childhood Experiences in Firstborns Up Risk for Mental Health Problems in Siblings

Adverse childhood experiences linked to mental health problems and health care needs in multiple children in same family

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Feb. 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the year before and two years after birth in firstborns are associated with an increased risk for mental health problems and health care needs in multiple children in the same family, according to a study published online in the February issue of The Lancet Public Health.

Shabeer Syed, Dclin.Psych., from the University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, and colleagues derived a population-based birth cohort in England to examine the association between firstborns exposed to ACEs between one year before and two years after birth and the risks for mental health problems and related health care contacts in multiple children from the same mother. The cohort included 333,048 firstborns and their mothers.

The researchers found that 37.1 percent of the firstborns had any ACEs between one year before and two years after birth, and 19.8 percent of all mothers had at least one child with a mental health problem between ages 5 and 18 years. Compared with mothers without firstborns with ACEs, those with firstborns with ACEs had 1.71 times as many children with mental health problems (mean, 29.8 versus 17.4 children per 100 mothers). The incidence rates of children with all-cause emergency admissions and mental health-related contacts were also elevated for these mothers. Firstborn and later-born children did not have a significant difference in terms of risk for mental health problems.

“We found that the presence of any ACE in the firstborn child significantly increased the likelihood of multiple and subsequent children in the family having mental health problems,” the authors write.