Adverse childhood experiences and risky behaviours in two Tunisian University Hospitals

Abstract Introduction According to the Health Word Organization (WHO), adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have several harmful outcomes on mental health in adolescence and later life. We aimed at investigating the relationship between ACEs and risky behaviors among Tunisian health professionals. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted between November 2018 and March 2019 among health care workers in two University Hospitals in Tunisia. We assessed exposure to violence in the hospital, behavioral (cyberaddiction) and chemical addiction (tobacco and alcohol use). ACEs were screened using the Arabic validated version of the Adverse childhood experiences-International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ) developed by the WHO. Results A total of 546 health professionals were enrolled with a mean age of 34.5 ± 9.6 years and a majority being female (70%). Almost 34.8% were doctors. The majority of them (67.3%) reported exposure to physical violence at work by patient or their families. The most common hazardous practice was internet addiction (18.5%) followed by tobacco use (13.2%). All health risk behaviors were significantly more prevalent among males and youth (<35 years) (p < 0.01). After adjustment for violence at work and socidemographic characteristics, logistic regression revealed that ACEs especially physical violence (OR = 1.8; IC [1.1-2.9]), emotional abuse (OR = 4.5 [1.2-16.6]) and bullying (OR = 2.6 [1.6-4.2]) increase the risk of the adoption of addictive behaviors among health caregivers. Conclusions Policy makers might implement collaborative interventions with psychiatrics targeting the prevention of early life adversities, this could be helpful to delay the onset of risky behaviors. Key messages Exposure to early life adversities increase the risk of addictive behaviors among health caregivers. Collaborative interventions with psychiatrics targeting screening childhood adversities could be helpful to delay the onset of risky behaviours.