Applying causal inference methods to investigate the impact of adverse childhood experiences on mental health (360G-Wellcome-215917_Z_19_Z)

Children exposed to abuse, neglect, and dysfunctional home environments (e.g., parental substance abuse, mental illness, domestic violence) have an elevated risk of developing costly and impairing mental health problems. However, as highlighted in a recent report by the UK Science and Technology Select Committee, the extent to which these adverse childhood experiences cause mental health problems is not known. This is because children exposed to adversities are likely to have other genetic and environmental risk factors for mental health problems, which may confound previously observed associations. I will apply causal inference methods to disentangle the effects of adverse childhood experiences on mental health from genetic and environmental confounds. In doing so, I will make use of data from three large population-based cohorts of children from the UK, Sweden, and Norway, with measures of adverse childhood experiences, mental health, and potential confounding factors (including genetic data). By examining whether findings converge across different causal inference methods with different assumptions, I will be able to draw more confident conclusions about the effects of adverse childhood experiences on mental health. In turn, the findings will indicate the extent to which interventions targeting adverse childhood experiences could prevent children from developing mental health problems.