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Adverse Childhood Experiences

Posted on November 6, 2019

Adverse Childhood Experiences

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a significant risk factor for substance use disorders and can impact prevention efforts.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are stressful or traumatic events, including abuse and neglect.

They may also include household dysfunction such as witnessing domestic violence or growing up with family members who have substance use disorders.

ACEs are strongly related to the development and prevalence of a wide range of health problems throughout a person’s lifespan, including those associated with substance misuse.

ACEs include:

  • Physical abuse
  • Sexual abuse
  • Emotional abuse
  • Physical neglect
  • Emotional neglect
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Mother treated violently
  • Substance misuse within household
  • Household mental illness
  • Parental separation or divorce
  • Incarcerated household member

ACEs are a good example of the types of complex issues that the prevention workforce often faces.

The negative effects of ACEs are felt throughout the nation and can affect people of all backgrounds.

Successfully addressing their impact requires:

  • Assessing prevention needs and gathering data
  • Effective and sustainable prevention approaches guided by applying the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF)
  • Prevention efforts aligned with the widespread occurrence of ACEs
  • Building relationships with appropriate community partners through strong collaboration

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Many studies have examined the relationship between ACEs and a variety of known risk factors for disease, disability, and early mortality.

The Division of Violence Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, conducted a landmark ACE study from 1995 to 1997 with more than 17,000 participants.

The study found:

  • ACEs are common. For example, 28% of study participants reported physical abuse and 21% reported sexual abuse. Many also reported experiencing a divorce or parental separation, or having a parent with a mental and/or substance use disorder.
  • ACEs cluster. Almost 40% of the Kaiser sample reported two or more ACEs and 12.5% experienced four or more. Because ACEs cluster, many subsequent studies now look at the cumulative effects of ACEs rather than the individual effects of each.
  • ACEs have a dose-response relationship with many health problems. As researchers followed participants over time, they discovered that a person’s cumulative ACEs score has a strong, graded relationship to numerous health, social, and behavioral problems throughout their lifespan, including substance use disorders. Furthermore, many problems related to ACEs tend to be comorbid or co-occurring.

ACEs and Prevention Efforts

Preventing ACEs and engaging in early identification of people who have experienced them could have a significant impact on a range of critical health problems.

You can strengthen your substance misuse prevention efforts by:

  • Informing local decision-making by collecting state- and county-level ACEs data
  • Increasing awareness of ACEs among state- and community-level substance misuse prevention professionals, emphasizing the relevance of ACEs to behavioral health disciplines
  • Including ACEs among the primary risk and protective factors when engaging in prevention planning efforts
  • Selecting and implementing programs, policies, and strategies designed to address ACEs, including efforts focusing on reducing intergenerational transmission of ACEs
  • Using ACEs research and local ACEs data to identify groups of people who may be at higher risk for substance use disorders and to conduct targeted prevention

ACEs Research and Behavioral Health

Research has demonstrated a strong relationship between ACEs, substance use disorders, and behavioural problems. When children are exposed to chronic stressful events, their neurodevelopment can be disrupted.

As a result, the child’s cognitive functioning or ability to cope with negative or disruptive emotions may be impaired. Over time, and often during adolescence, the child may adopt negative coping mechanisms, such as substance use or self-harm.

Eventually, these unhealthy coping mechanisms can contribute to disease, disability, and social problems, as well as premature mortality.

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