Rutter & Quinton (1977) found that factors existing in children's social environment were linked to health - risk behaviors later in life, and were the first researchers to describe neglect, abuse, and other
forms of maltreatment (what would later be considered adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs) in terms
of their cumulative effect, range
of adversity, and wide - reaching impact on both mental and physical health
over the
course of an individual's
lifetime.