The Intersection of Neighborhood Environments, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Health Equity

Abstract

Health inequities arise from an interplay of social, political, and structural factors that affect children, families, and populations.1–7 These factors are often referred to as social determinants of health (SDOH).8 Contemporary health equity research examines complex ways that SDOH intersect to produce harms greater than their individual effects.3,5,7 This commentary aligns with that scholarship by (1) discussing how 2 particular factors—adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and neighborhood environment—can intersect to perpetuate health inequities and (2) providing suggestions to support the health of children who experienced ACEs from a perspective that centers their neighborhood environment.