YOUNG people in Northern Ireland continue to experience trauma related to paramilitary activity a new report has found.
The results of a groundbreaking study, which sought to assess the impact of childhood traumas on people living in the North, has found that 60 per cent of the adult population witnessed one or more negative events as children.
The intergenerational research further found that “despite being almost 27 years past the Good Friday Agreement, our younger generation continues to experience trauma linked to paramilitary activity”.
Commissioned by the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime, the research was led by a team from Queen's University Belfast.
Young people in Northern Ireland continue to experience trauma related to paramilitary activityIt found “significant levels of trauma that continue to impact all communities and across generations”.
Researchers surveyed 1200 people to discover the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on their lives.
Defined as traumatic or stressful experiences that occur in childhood, they include physical, sexual, emotional abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic abuse, parental separation and growing up in a household where there are adults with mental health or drug or alcohol problems or who have spent time in prison.
The findings revealed 60 per cent of respondents had experienced at least one ACE, while 17.6 per cent had experienced four or more ACEs - a critical threshold associated with significantly elevated health and social risks.
“The findings from this research are both striking and sobering,” Northern Ireland’s Justice Minister Naomi Long said as the research findings were published.
“We now have crucial evidence of how childhood trauma shapes life outcomes in Northern Ireland,” she added.
“The findings show clear correlations between higher exposure to trauma in childhood and many negative outcomes, including poorer educational achievement, chronic health conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and chronic pain, increased exposure to domestic violence, addiction, poor mental health and health-harming behaviours.
“These are significant findings, which will impact and inform policy and delivery across the Executive.”
Ms Long believes the figures present a “major public health challenge” for Northern Ireland.
“That 60 per cent of our adult population reports at least one traumatic childhood event, with nearly one in five experiencing four or more, represents a major public health challenge,” she said.
“More specifically, the finding that 30 per cent of respondents reported conflict-specific adversities illuminates the unique context of trauma in Northern Ireland.
“Perhaps most concerning is the evidence that, despite being almost 27 years past the Good Friday Agreement, our younger generation continues to experience trauma linked to paramilitary activity.”
Dr Colm Walsh, an academic from Queen’s University Belfast, led the study.
He claims the findings reveal the “long arm of early adversities, the impact of which extends beyond childhood, affecting a number of key outcomes, ranging from educational attainment, physical and mental health, substance use, and offending”.
“Compared with those who report no ACEs, those who reported four or more, were almost nine times more likely to be excluded from school as a child, eight times more likely to have been arrested and three times more likely to have used illicit drugs in the previous year as an adult,” he explained.
The study also highlighted that both ACEs and Troubles-related trauma were disproportionately concentrated in socio-economically disadvantaged communities, creating further challenges for people living in those areas.
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