Behind Alaska’s breathtaking landscapes lies a lesser-known story—children growing up with trauma and one student’s quest to understand how it shapes their health for years to come. Armed with data collected by the Alaska Department of Health on the perceptions of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their impact on health outcomes, BYU student Jyles Datoon (MS ’26, PH) is determined to uncover the invisible scars that ripple across communities due to childhood trauma.
ACEs refer to potentially traumatic events and experiences that occur during childhood and adolescence. Research has shown that they can have a significant impact on a person’s physical, emotional, and mental health throughout their life. “ACEs encompass childhood abuse, neglect, and violence,” Datoon explains. “It also encompasses environmental factors, like if you grew up in an environment where you saw domestic violence, parental incarceration, or substance abuse within your home.” Focusing specifically on how individuals perceive their ACEs, Datoon hopes to answer how that perception affects their health.
Datoon first became interested in preventative care as a graduate student. “I really got interested in the prevention side of disease and addressing these problems before they become greater,” he reflects. Fortuitously, Datoon was introduced to ACEs by Dr. Ali Crandall for his capstone project. “For my program, we have to work with an organization and do research with them,” he explains. “So, when the Alaska Department of Health provided Ali with this data about ACEs and health outcomes in Alaskan adults, I was able to begin interpreting it and putting it into research.”
As Datoon and his team looked at the data, they found what has been seen in other research, that the more ACEs experienced in childhood are associated with worse physical and mental health in adulthood. But he was especially interested in learning about how people’s perceptions of their ACEs may change how much ACEs affect health in adulthood. His research showed that having a less negative perception of ACEs was associated with fewer mental health problems in adulthood. It was this project that later won Datoon first place in the public health category at the Life Sciences Research Conference
Datoon hopes to take this a step further by also identifying strategies for addressing trauma early. “I think it can shed some light on the importance of providing more resources,” says Datoon, “because it's one thing to experience those challenges in our childhood and adolescence but having the resources to reframe our thinking on how we perceive or process that trauma can have a huge impact on health outcomes later in life.”
With this in mind, Datoon reflected on how this project helped him grow as a researcher. “It opened my eyes to the fact that this is one of the talents that God has blessed me with, and that I can multiply that for the benefit of our brothers and sisters.” He also reminds young researchers to “be open to learning about different things. You'll find what you're interested in, and then you can go with that.” For Datoon, this project became more than an academic pursuit: it was a journey of faith, discovery, and a step toward healing communities affected by early adversity across Alaska.