What are ACEs?

Adverse Childhood Experiences.

The ACEs study was one of the most extensive studies of childhood abuse, neglect, and household challenges in later life and well-being. It followed 17,337 Kaiser SoCal patients from 1995 to 1997 with collaboration by CDC researchers; it included individuals ages 19-60+. The multi-cultural aspect was vast where people had educational backgrounds ranging from less than a high school diploma up to postgraduate degrees.

The study found that childhood adversity is linked to higher chances of developing long-term health problems in adulthood. These include heart disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma, and substance abuse.

The study took a look at the correlation between 10 categories of childhood adversity and health-related disorders in adulthood. The results show overwhelming evidence that the higher your ACE score (Adverse Childhood Experiences), the greater chance you have for later on facing these kinds of issues with your physical or mental well-being: Heart Disease Cancer Diabetes Asthma Substance Abuse. People who had an ACE score of 4+ were 3x more likely to have a serious impairment that prevented them from working, 2x more likely to experience financial problems, heart disease, or stroke. They also had an increased four-fold increase in the likelihood of becoming alcoholic and developing depression three-fold.

Why is this important?

The brain has the power to control many physical processes throughout your body. Stress can be very harmful to our bodies, but it's important that we recognize how stress influences us and find coping strategies for dealing with this toxicity in order to maintain healthiness. People who experience toxic stress frequently develop nervous system problems like chronic pain, insomnia, digestive issues, and autoimmune disorders.

A while back I posted a blog about the relationship between childhood trauma and increased risk of developing auto-immune diseases with people who suffer from long-term or acute health conditions such as chronic aches. Stress is extremely harmful to our bodies; it damages our immune systems sometimes causing irreversible damage which can lead to things like anxiety attacks, depression, etc.; among other physical manifestations including poor sleep patterns! A large study (n= 2,491) done in 2018 in Germany by Brown RC, Plener PL, Braehler E, et al. found that there was a two to a three-fold increased risk of later developing a chronic pain condition. For women, all forms of abuse were implicated in the development of pain. For men, however, only physical and sexual abuse were associated with pain in adulthood.  

This study, along with the CDC-Kaiser study, makes it very clear that these experiences have consequences. So what can we do? We can acknowledge that as adults, we all most likely have experienced one or several of these. If we have experienced multiple, we might want to do the work to process these events. I am a bit biased, but this is one of the many reasons I love doing S.A.F.E. EMDR. S.A.F.E. EMDR focuses not only on these big traumas but also the attachment wounds. It emphasizes a focus on somatic symptoms, often the manifestation of these traumas. There are many ways to process trauma, EMDR just being one of them. Exposure therapy is a general category of trauma/anxiety treatment. There are many different avenues you can take to do this, so do your research and find what works best for you. Not every form of exposure therapy will be a good fit for everyone. 

There are ways that we can also mitigate ACEs in children and even sometimes in adulthood. Providing the child with a safe connection to an adult who can provide them with the security they are seeking. Supporting parents in their basic needs so that they can better support their children and provide the security they need. Social and community connection, getting these families on someone’s radar, so they feel they have support and don't have to “go at it alone.” Work on parenting skills and problem-solving skills for the parents. Job training and education is another way. Helping families find a sense of competence and ability to handle situations. Making them feel safe to ask for help rather than punishing them because they can’t provide some of their essential needs. 

Preventing ACEs in the first place would be best but not always possible. However, statistics show prevention reduces depression by as much as 44%. Counteracting them with positive childhood experiences (PCE’s) can also help. PCE questions included things such as how safe a child felt being able to talk to their family about feelings, felt a sense of belonging in school, felt like friends supported them, had 2 non-related adults who were supportive, etc. Results of a study done by JAMA Pediatrics in 2015 revealed that adults with a high score on the PCEs questionnaire were 72% less likely to develop depression or poor mental health. This number dropped to 48% for those with a PCE score of 5 and 25% for those with a PCE of 3.

Even though we can’t always protect the children we see or serve, they will know that there is at least one person in their life who cares for them and looks out for them. Sometimes it may not seem like much to you but when these people grow up into adults with supportive parents, this could lead to a better future.

For more information on ACEs, you can view the study here. 

To find out more about what you can do to prevent ACEs, counteract them, learn more in general OR take the questionnaire yourself, you can find the CDC website here. 

If you have questions or would like to suggest a topic for a future blog, you can reach out to me by email at Colleen@ScatteredPotential.com, subscribe to my blog, or my newsletter by filling out the form below. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.