Adverse Childhood Experiences and Neighborhood Characteristics: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), including abuse and neglect, are strongly associated with children’s long-term development and have become a global policy priority. Although existing research has highlighted the predictive effects of ACEs and neighborhood characteristics on individual health outcomes, there is still a lack of systematic integration and review of evidence on the association between neighborhood characteristics and ACEs, which is critical to understanding child development. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we searched four major databases, screened the search results from 1999 to 2025, and used standardized tools for quality assessment. Ultimately, we identified 39 pieces of evidence and conducted a systematic review of these 39 studies, narratively summarizing the research findings. This review incorporates multidimensional neighborhood characteristics into the theoretical framework with the aim of exploring the association between neighborhood structural characteristics (such as poverty, racial diversity, safety, and resource accessibility) and non-structural characteristics (such as collective efficacy) with ACEs. The research results indicate that there is a significant association between neighborhood characteristics and ACEs risk. Therefore, considering neighborhood characteristics when developing ACEs intervention and prevention policies and strategies can help ensure the comprehensiveness of the plan.