ACEs are Adverse Childhood Experiences. As we know the experiences we have during our childhood can dramatically shape our lives, both in negative and positive ways. This leads to the question; if we experienced several impactful adverse experiences in our childhood, how would those experiences shape our future? 

What are ACEs

In a paper written by Mark Corcoran, Muireann McNulty, they define Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) as traumatic events or chronic stressors that are uncontrollable to the child. ACEs are stressful events or situations that occur during childhood or during adolescence and can be single events or prolonged threats. ACEs occur when the young person’s safety, security, trust or bodily integrity has been threatened. 

Examples of ACEs

ACEs can include the following things:

  • Any form of abuse including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse
  • Any form of neglect including affluent neglect 
  • Living with a parent or carer with substance abuse problems
  • Exposure to domestic abuse
  • Having an adult in their life who is in prison or has spent time incarcerated 
  • Living with an adult or other young person with serious mental health issues
  • Losing a parent through death of abandonment
  • Having parents who are divorced
  • Experiencing serious physical injury 

The effect ACEs have on future adults

It is sensible to assume that most people will experience at least one adverse childhood experience during their childhood. A 2014 UK study on ACEs found that 47% of people surveyed have experienced at least one ACE with 9% of the population having 4+ ACEs.

In research conducted by Public Health Wales, they found that compared to people with no ACEs, those with four or more ACEs were:

  • 4 times more likely to be a high-risk drinker 
  • 6 times more likely to have had or caused unintended teenage pregnancy 
  • 6 times more likely to smoke e-cigarettes or tobacco 
  • 6 times more likely to have had sex under the age of 16 years 
  • 11 times more likely to have smoked cannabis 
  • 14 times more likely to have been a victim of violence over the last 12 months 
  • 15 times more likely to have committed violence against another person in the last 12 months 
  • 16 times more likely to have used crack cocaine or heroin 
  • 20 times more likely to have been incarcerated at any point in their lifetime

Likewise, in 1994 the first study in ACEs took place; the American Adverse Childhood Experiences Study screened over 17,00 adults to determine their history of exposure to ACEs. They came to the same conclusions that the more ACEs experienced the worse your physical and mental health outcomes would be. 

From these statistics we can conclude that stable and protective childhood are critical factors in the development of resilience in young people and that positive childhood experiences encourage better environments for future generations. 

Toxic Stress

Toxic stress occurs when traumatic events create high levels of prolonged and persistent stress which can impact brain development and functioning. 

The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NASEM) 2019 consensus report definees toxic stress as “prolonged activation of the stress response systems that can disrupt the development of brain architecture and other organ systems, and increase the risk for stress-related disease and cognitive impairment, well into the adult years… For children, the result is the disruption of the development of brain architecture and other organ systems and an increase in lifelong risk for physical and mental health disorders.”

While not all types of stress are bad, toxic stress puts the body into fight or flight mode and being in this constant state of stress can have negative impacts on children as they grow. 

Generational Trauma 

When you look at the statistics for adults with 4 or more ACEs it paints a rather grim picture. However, something to consider is how ACEs can have a generational effect on a family and future generations for years to come.

Think about the actions of your parents that had either positive or negative effects on you as a child. Now consider if your parents are experiencing the same things, and whether their parents experienced the same thing? ACEs can cause generational trauma and continue to affect future generations of adults.

This is why preventing ACEs is vital, because it is not just about this generation of children; we are eliminating ACEs for many future generations of children to come.

References

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