Adverse Childhood Experiences

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic experiences or events that can have negative, lasting effects on health and well-being. ACEs range from physical, emotional, or sexual abuse to parental divorce, a parent with a substance abuse problem, or the jailing and absence of a parent or guardian. Economic hardship (poverty) is the most common adverse childhood experience (ACE) reported nationally and in almost all states, followed by divorce or separation of a parent or guardian. In many areas, having been the victim of or witness to violence is the second most common ACE, after economic hardship. Living with a parent who has an alcohol- or drug-use problem is the third-most-common ACE. In fact, abuse of alcohol or drugs, exposure to neighborhood violence, and the occurrence of mental illness are among the most commonly-reported adverse childhood experiences in every state.

• "Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adult Risk Factors for Age-Related Disease: Depression, Inflammation, and Clustering of Metabolic Risk Markers"Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov  - Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov  — CDC Division of Violence Prevention
• The Origins of Addiction: Evidence from the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov  [PDF - 94 KB]