Young people’s experiences and the support they receive in dealing with different experiences can influence their long-term physical and mental health.
National Centre for Population Health & Wellbeing Research has developed a survey for 16-18-year-olds living in Wales to tell us about their experiences. This survey will help to improve understanding of what help and support young people find most beneficial. Please click below to access our surveys.
In particular, living in adversity can affect young people as they grow up and into adulthood. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been found to predict a range of unfavourable mental and physical health outcomes (Felitti et al., 1998).
Different forms of childhood trauma including personal experience of neglect and other types of abuse are often considered ACEs, as well as familial factors such as domestic violence, parental separation, or alcoholism in the home.
In Wales, it is estimated that half of all adults have experienced at least one ACE, and 14% have experienced four or more (Bellis et al., 2016).
These experiences in early life are associated with poor engagement with school in the short term, and the onset of mental and physical health problems in the long term (Hughes et al., 2017). Supporting young people to deal with their difficult experiences is therefore an important task for public health and social justice.
