Pastors’ Level of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Sub Sahara Africa

Abstract

The study investigated the Pastors’ level of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) using a descriptive design on a sample of 304 pastors in the East-Central Africa (ECD), West-Central Africa (WAD), and Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Divisions (SID) of the Adventist Church. Data from the self-constructed questionnaire was analyzed using SPSS 27 and SmartPLS 4.0 for statistical treatment. The pastors in the three Divisions (ECD, WAD, SID) exhibited a low level of ACEs. It is a sigh of relief that pastors in Sub-Sahara Africa have low levels of Adverse Childhood Experiences. Eight out of ten pastors are being disturbed by those who attempted or committed suicide of a close of kin. Two out of five are being disturbed by parental bereavement before 18 years. Four out of 10 pastors still nurse the effects of physical abuse from caretakers. Fifteen percent suffer from earlier lack of parental care while 24% nurse scars from battering. Forty percent still nurture the bereavement of nearest of kin. There is no significant difference in the levels of ACEs when age is considered. Future research would study the level of ACEs among ministerial spouses and children