ACES-Adverse Childhood Experiences

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic or stressful events that occur early in life and have impacts on physiological and psychological health issues later in life. In a groundbreaking study in the early 1990s, Vincent Felitti, MD, of Kaiser Permanente partnered with Robert Anda, MD, at the CDC to look at how traumatic childhood experiences impacted health outcomes. They surveyed more than 17,000 adult members of Kaiser Permanente in San Diego and asked about their exposure to ACEs, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; physical and emotional neglect; and growing up in a home with divorced parents, domestic violence, substance abuse, or mentally ill or incarcerated household members.

ACES Resources

NIHB Launches Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Hub

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) | VitalSigns | CDC

Adverse Childhood Experiences

Laying the Groundwork for Trauma-Informed Care

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  More about the original ACEs study and subsequent research. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/index.html

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Adverse Childhood Experiences Study Infographic. https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/infographics/the-truth-about-aces.html

The Science of Early Childhood.  Harvard Center on the Developing Child overview on the effects of toxic stress on the developing brain, with good videos. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd/
 
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris’s Ted Talk. https://www.ted.com/talks/nadine_burke_harris_how childhood_trauma_ affects_health_across_a_lifetime

Sesame Street in Communities.  Robert Wood Johnson Foundation partnered with Sesame Street and had providers create educational material, videos, and tools for both providers and parents regarding a wide variety of topics that affect children including Dealing with Divorce and Traumatic Experiences. https://sesamestreetincommunities.org/

What Are Aces?

Truth About Aces

ACEs Tools and Resources for Patients and Parents

ACEs Tools and Resources for Providers

Known and Suspected Consequences of Lifetime Exposures to Violence and Abuse

Specific Suggestions for Implementing TIC in Patient Care 

Aces Resilience Questionnaire  

Aces Capstone Handbook 

Aces Questionnaire Finding Your Ace Score

Probability of Sample Outcomes Given 100 Americans

Cumulative Aces Increase The Risk of Negative Outcomes

Toxic Stress and The Immune System

Consequences of Lifetime Abuse

Why Is This Important?

Percentage of County Residents Who Report Two or More Aces

Overall Prevalence

An Ecobiodevelopmental FrameworkFor Early Childhood Policies and Programs