B2.03 - Oral: Leveraging the Gelberg-andersen Model for Vulnerable Populations to Improve Outcomes Among Children Who Experienced Aces

Brief Abstract Summary: This presentation will briefly summarize the findings of three studies that utilized the Gelberg-Andersen Model for Vulnerable Populations (GMVP) to compare the relationship between three resilience frameworks and three outcomes (childhood obesity, childhood mental health issues, and school-related outcomes) among children who experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Attendees will first be introduced to the GMVP along with a description of how this model is relevant for diverse and vulnerable populations, including children who experienced ACEs. Based on the findings of the studies, attendees will learn which protective factors have the strongest relationships with each outcome. Then, the presenter will discuss how the findings from the studies can be integrated into the GMVP to potentially guide future interventions. Attendees will then be introduced to potential strategies that can be to prevent and mitigate ACEs using the GMVP.

Detailed abstract description: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are categories of childhood maltreatment and household dysfunction that have a dose-wise relationship with negative health, school, and quality of life outcomes. In the U.S., approximately 29.9% of youth between 12 and 17 years old have experience multiple ACEs. ACEs are more prevalent in lower-income and less-educated households along with certain demographic groups. Given the lifelong impact of ACEs and intergenerational transmission of ACEs, ACEs can perpetuate health disparities and economic inequalities in future generations. Thus, efforts are needed to utilize evidence-based models and research to inform interventions that promote resilience to overcome ACEs. This presentation will demonstrate how the Gelberg-Andersen Model for Vulnerable Populations (GMVP) can be leveraged with the findings from three recent research studies to inform interventions to prevent and mitigate the harmful impact of ACEs on children.

The GMVP is an extension of the Andersen Behavioral Model that was developed to predict and understand health behaviors, healthcare utilization, and health outcomes based upon predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics. The GMVP expanded upon the Anderson Behavioral Model by recognizing that vulnerable and diverse populations have unique factors that may influence the model’s outcomes. Both the traditional and vulnerable domains include characteristics that align with ACEs, potential protective factors, and approaches to promote health behaviors and service utilization to ultimately improve outcomes. The presentation will provide an overview of the GMVP along with how the GMVP was used in these studies and how it could be applied to other studies and interventions for diverse and vulnerable populations.

The presenter will then present the findings from three studies conducted by the authors utilizing secondary-data analysis from the 2018-2020 National Survey for Children’s Health that compared the relationship between three resilience frameworks and associated protective factors with three categories of outcomes (childhood obesity, childhood mental health, and school-related outcomes) utilizing hierarchical logistic regression. This presentation will primarily focus on the protective factors associated with these outcomes. While some protective factors had a stronger relationship with certain outcomes, self-regulation, mastery/extracurricular activities, parent/caregiver relationships, and sharing ideas were the strongest protective factors across all outcomes. Building on these findings, the presenter will introduce some strategies that can be used to target predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics associated with improved outcomes among children experiencing ACEs using the GMVP. These strategies will include policy, community, school, and other approaches that can be used to guide interventions to prevent ACEs and build resilience against the negative impact of ACEs.