TY - JOUR
T1 - Development and Validation of the Weighted Index for Childhood Adverse Conditions (WICAC)
AU - Jacobsen, Sofie A
AU - Bibby, Bo M
AU - Frostholm, Lisbeth
AU - Petersen, Marie W
AU - Ørnbøl, Eva
AU - Schovsbo, Signe U
AU - Dantoft, Thomas M
AU - Carstensen, Tina B W
PY - 2022/10/14
Y1 - 2022/10/14
N2 - BACKGROUND: Adverse experiences in childhood are a major public health concern, promoting social inequality in health through biopsychosocial mechanisms. So far, no known measures comprehend the complexity and variations of severity of adverse events. This study aims to develop and validate a new index: the Weighted Index for Childhood Adverse Conditions (WICAC).METHODS: The population consists of 7493 randomly invited men and women aged 18-72 years. Data were collected in 2012-2015 as part of the Danish Study of Functional Disorders (DanFunD). Content and construct validation of the WICAC was performed with the hypothesis testing of multiple biopsychosocial outcomes: cardiovascular disease, cancer, poor health, back pain, BMI, obesity, anxiety, depression, low vitality, subjective social status, lower education, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Data were analysed with binominal and linear regression models with risk ratios (RR) and mean differences (MD).RESULTS: Content validation is fitting for WICAC. The strongest associations observed were for most severe adversity: Poor Health RR = 2.16 (1.19-2.91), Anxiety RR = 3.32 (2.32-4.74), Heavy Drinking RR = 4.09 (1.85-9.04), and Subjective Social Status MD = -0.481 (-0.721-(-0.241)). Similar results were found for the remaining outcomes. Discriminative validation was undecided.CONCLUSIONS: WICAC is an adequate instrument for measuring cumulative adverse life events in childhood and adolescence for research purposes.
AB - BACKGROUND: Adverse experiences in childhood are a major public health concern, promoting social inequality in health through biopsychosocial mechanisms. So far, no known measures comprehend the complexity and variations of severity of adverse events. This study aims to develop and validate a new index: the Weighted Index for Childhood Adverse Conditions (WICAC).METHODS: The population consists of 7493 randomly invited men and women aged 18-72 years. Data were collected in 2012-2015 as part of the Danish Study of Functional Disorders (DanFunD). Content and construct validation of the WICAC was performed with the hypothesis testing of multiple biopsychosocial outcomes: cardiovascular disease, cancer, poor health, back pain, BMI, obesity, anxiety, depression, low vitality, subjective social status, lower education, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Data were analysed with binominal and linear regression models with risk ratios (RR) and mean differences (MD).RESULTS: Content validation is fitting for WICAC. The strongest associations observed were for most severe adversity: Poor Health RR = 2.16 (1.19-2.91), Anxiety RR = 3.32 (2.32-4.74), Heavy Drinking RR = 4.09 (1.85-9.04), and Subjective Social Status MD = -0.481 (-0.721-(-0.241)). Similar results were found for the remaining outcomes. Discriminative validation was undecided.CONCLUSIONS: WICAC is an adequate instrument for measuring cumulative adverse life events in childhood and adolescence for research purposes.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Male
KW - Humans
KW - Female
KW - Anxiety/epidemiology
KW - Socioeconomic Factors
KW - Educational Status
KW - Anxiety Disorders
KW - Smoking/epidemiology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140876664&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph192013251
DO - 10.3390/ijerph192013251
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 36293829
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 19
SP - 13251
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 20
M1 - 13251
ER -