CHILDHOOD adversities can have a damaging and long term impact on mental health and well-being, a study has found.
The research by Ulster University (UU) was launched yesterday at a seminar in conjunction with NSPCC, which focused on the links between adversities, the Troubles, trauma and mental illness in students and the general population.
It found that almost one in three people in the north reported adverse childhood experiences, with economic adversity high in comparison with other regions.
Individuals who experienced conflict and adverse childhood experiences and who also had psychological problems were 15 times more likely to engage in suicidal behaviour than those who experienced low levels of trauma.
Such students, it added, were five and a half times more likely to engage in self-harm.
Social networks, the study found, could act as a buffer against the negative of stress.
Siobhan O'Neill, professor of mental health sciences at UU, said up until now, little research had been carried out to examine the prevalence and impact of childhood adversities in the Northern Ireland population, "a society which has experienced a prolonged period of civil conflict, which also had negative consequences on mental health".
"The association between adversity in childhood and mental health in later life is a complex one, and some adversity can even promote resilience," she said.
"Nonetheless, exposure to high levels of adversity in childhood can lead to mental illness, and increases the likelihood of a person developing PTSD after a traumatic event. This effects not only of the person who experienced the adversities and trauma, but also on their offspring, and may affect subsequent generations."