Translating Cultural Assets Research Into Action to Mitigate Adverse Childhood Experience-Related Health Disparities Among African American Youth

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) including trauma exposure, parent mental health problems, family dysfunction, and community-level adversities put individuals at risk for a host of negative health outcomes. The effects of cumulative ACEs are numerous, diverse, and can predispose an individual to cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physical health problems as well as premature death. African American youth experience disproportionate exposure to ACEs in the context of racism that increases risk for allostatic load and hinders systems of care responses resulting in physical and mental health disparities. To maximize efforts to mitigate these disparities it is imperative that we translate research into action to respond to ACEs in the context of racism. This article synthesizes African American cultural assets research within a resilience after trauma framework to provide a foundation for translating research into action to mitigate ACE-related disparities among African American youth. We present task shifting and youth-partnered advocacy as two strategies supported by this framework and describe their application to responding to ACEs in the context of racism. Public Significance Statement Mitigating ACE-related health disparities experienced by African American youth constitutes an urgent public health need. Translating psychological research to action through a framework that integrates cultural assets and resilience after trauma research provides a promising opportunity to develop effective programs and policies that address ACEs in the context of racism and promote health equity.