Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) harm children's developing brains. They lead to changing how children respond to stress and damaging their immune systems so profoundly that the effects show up decades later. ACEs cause much of our chronic disease burden, most mental illness, and are at the root of violence.

Involuntary childhood genital cutting—including female genital mutilation, gender-norming surgery of intersex children, and male circumcision—is painful and traumatic and has been found to permanently alter individuals' sexuality, and to have other lifelong consequences. These early traumas are not yet included on the ACE checklist.

ACEs are strongly associated with high-risk health behaviors in adulthood, such as smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, promiscuity, and obesity; and with ill health, including depression, heart and lung disease, cancer, and decreased lifespan.

ACEs have a dose-response relationship with many health problems. That is, as the number of ACEs accumulates, the greater the health risks to the individual.

ACEs come from the CDC-Kaiser Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, a groundbreaking public health study that discovered that childhood trauma leads to the adult onset of chronic diseases, depression and other mental illness, violence and being a victim of violence, as well as financial and social problems.

External links

• Adverse Childhood Experiences