Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences
Overview
This lesson provides a very basic overview of two ACES studies.
ACES
This section is used to provide very basic information to introduce ACES to students.
Basic Overview of ACES
Adverse Childhood Experiences include stressful or traumatizing events. These may include witnessing or directly experiencing violence, experiencing racism, war, car accident and so many more events that may cause undue stress. In 1990, Kaiser and the Center for Disease Control conducted a study. The study included 10 questions that focused on abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. In 2013 another study was conducted, Philadelphia Urban ACEs Survey, that included a more diverse sample. The survey was provided to individuals who were from a more diverse background including race, socioeconomic background, educational level, and gender. The survey expanded to 22 questions and included additional questions that assessed individual's experiences with racism, bullying, foster care, and indirect experiences of violence. Each survey asked participants to answer questions about their years before the age of 18.
Review the information provided on the slides. What questions do you still have about ACES?