RESEARCHER WHO CONNECTS ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES TO ADULT HEALTH TO SPEAK FEB. 8 AT ODU

Dr. Robert Anda, a senior research fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will discuss how abuse and other negative childhood experiences adversely affect victims' adult health at an In Support of Children lecture Thursday, Feb. 8 at Old Dominion University.

"Childhood Matters: Connecting Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adult Health," will be held from 1-4 p.m. in the Hampton/Newport News Room in Webb University Center. Free and open to the public, it is sponsored by In Support of Children, ODU's Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice in the College of Arts and Letters, Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters and Kohl's.

Anda is the co-principal investigator for the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study, which found that negative childhood experiences are major risk factors for poor quality of life, illness and even death in adults. During the talk, Anda will discuss the implications of the study's findings for prevention of health and social problems and directions for future research.

"It is often said that children are resilient, that they bounce back from adverse experiences unaffected," said Lucien Lombardo, professor of sociology and criminal justice at Old Dominion, who organized the lecture. "It is also commonly thought that difficult circumstances faced in childhood are left in the past when we become adults. Research findings from the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study show that nothing could be further from the truth."

Later that evening, Anda will present a free parenting workshop, "How Your Childhood Affects Your Parenting," at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters. It will be held from 7-9 p.m. and registration is required at http://www.chkd.org/Classes/.

For more information about Dr. Anda's lecture at Old Dominion University call 683-3114.