Impact pathways of adverse childhood experiences on infectious diseases among substance abusers in border regions: structural equation modeling

BackgroundInjection of drug abuse could result in infectious disease, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) possibly are associated with infectious disease. However, there is a paucity of literature on a direct or indirect relationship between ACEs, injection of drug use and infectious disease. W...

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Main Authors: Mingmei Zhang, Jianhui He, J. Melvin Young, Jing You, Jing Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Public Health
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1518607/full
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author Mingmei Zhang
Mingmei Zhang
Jianhui He
J. Melvin Young
Jing You
Jing Li
Jing Li
author_facet Mingmei Zhang
Mingmei Zhang
Jianhui He
J. Melvin Young
Jing You
Jing Li
Jing Li
author_sort Mingmei Zhang
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundInjection of drug abuse could result in infectious disease, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) possibly are associated with infectious disease. However, there is a paucity of literature on a direct or indirect relationship between ACEs, injection of drug use and infectious disease. We thus identified the pathway of influence of ACEs in adulthoods and injection of drug use on infectious disease by structural equation models (SEM).MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted by respondent driving sampling and consecutive sampling among people who use drugs in southwest of China in 2021. R software 4.2.1 was used to conduct descriptive, univariate, and SEM analysis.ResultsThere were 404 participants in total, with an average age of 34 and most males (98.3%) and minorities (79.6%). 95.5% of respondents experienced ACEs with 46.6% of reporting 4 or more ACEs. Correlations in SEM showed that infectious disease might be directly positively affected by injection of drug use (β = 0.184), and directly negatively affected by ACEs (β = −0.188). Age (β = 0.029), Ethnic (β = −0.021), Education (β = 0.019), Gender (β = 0.022), Sex partners (β = −0.017), and ACEs (β = −0.029) might have indirect effects on infectious disease.ConclusionACEs might be a direct or indirect predictor for infectious disease in adulthood, injection of drug use might be a risk factor and moderate other factors of infection of infectious disease. Strategies for creating a positive home environment, minimizing traumatic or stressful childhood experiences, and increasing awareness of the risks associated with drug injection use are all ways to lower the chances of contracting infectious diseases.
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spelling doaj-art-6383c7b1c5584bc1a1d342a2f03f8ebc2025-08-20T03:48:57ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652025-05-011310.3389/fpubh.2025.15186071518607Impact pathways of adverse childhood experiences on infectious diseases among substance abusers in border regions: structural equation modelingMingmei Zhang0Mingmei Zhang1Jianhui He2J. Melvin Young3Jing You4Jing Li5Jing Li6Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Public Health and Biosafety, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, ChinaSchool of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, ChinaSchool of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, ChinaYunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Public Health and Biosafety, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, ChinaDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, ChinaYunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Public Health and Biosafety, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, ChinaSchool of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, ChinaBackgroundInjection of drug abuse could result in infectious disease, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) possibly are associated with infectious disease. However, there is a paucity of literature on a direct or indirect relationship between ACEs, injection of drug use and infectious disease. We thus identified the pathway of influence of ACEs in adulthoods and injection of drug use on infectious disease by structural equation models (SEM).MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted by respondent driving sampling and consecutive sampling among people who use drugs in southwest of China in 2021. R software 4.2.1 was used to conduct descriptive, univariate, and SEM analysis.ResultsThere were 404 participants in total, with an average age of 34 and most males (98.3%) and minorities (79.6%). 95.5% of respondents experienced ACEs with 46.6% of reporting 4 or more ACEs. Correlations in SEM showed that infectious disease might be directly positively affected by injection of drug use (β = 0.184), and directly negatively affected by ACEs (β = −0.188). Age (β = 0.029), Ethnic (β = −0.021), Education (β = 0.019), Gender (β = 0.022), Sex partners (β = −0.017), and ACEs (β = −0.029) might have indirect effects on infectious disease.ConclusionACEs might be a direct or indirect predictor for infectious disease in adulthood, injection of drug use might be a risk factor and moderate other factors of infection of infectious disease. Strategies for creating a positive home environment, minimizing traumatic or stressful childhood experiences, and increasing awareness of the risks associated with drug injection use are all ways to lower the chances of contracting infectious diseases.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1518607/fullinjection of drug useadverse childhood experiencesinfectious diseasestructural equation modelsborder
spellingShingle Mingmei Zhang
Mingmei Zhang
Jianhui He
J. Melvin Young
Jing You
Jing Li
Jing Li
Impact pathways of adverse childhood experiences on infectious diseases among substance abusers in border regions: structural equation modeling
Frontiers in Public Health
injection of drug use
adverse childhood experiences
infectious disease
structural equation models
border
title Impact pathways of adverse childhood experiences on infectious diseases among substance abusers in border regions: structural equation modeling
title_full Impact pathways of adverse childhood experiences on infectious diseases among substance abusers in border regions: structural equation modeling
title_fullStr Impact pathways of adverse childhood experiences on infectious diseases among substance abusers in border regions: structural equation modeling
title_full_unstemmed Impact pathways of adverse childhood experiences on infectious diseases among substance abusers in border regions: structural equation modeling
title_short Impact pathways of adverse childhood experiences on infectious diseases among substance abusers in border regions: structural equation modeling
title_sort impact pathways of adverse childhood experiences on infectious diseases among substance abusers in border regions structural equation modeling
topic injection of drug use
adverse childhood experiences
infectious disease
structural equation models
border
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1518607/full
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