Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and Your Health

The study of how adverse childhood experiences (ACE’s) affect lifetime health is relatively new. The first major study on the subject was published in 1998, commonly called the CDC-Kaiser study. The study essentially asked the question: what effects do traumatic childhood experiences have on lifetime health? Adverse Childhood Experiences are traumatic experiences that happen to children between the ages of 0 to 17 years. For example; experiencing violence abuse or neglect, witnessing violence in the home or community, or having a family member attempt or die by suicide. Other things in the environment which can affect a child’s sense of safety and stability include growing up in a household with substance abuse, mental health problems and parental separation or imprisonment.

The consequences of ACE’s can be surprising. Children with elevated numbers of ACE’s can have difficulty forming healthy and stable relationships, they may have difficulty finding and keeping work, they may have more issues with depression and anxiety. Children who have undergone or, worse, continue to undergo trauma have difficulty learning, focusing in classrooms and often act out in ways that disrupt their own and others’ education. Further, they can have an increased rate of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Left untreated, impacts from ACE’s can lead to early mortality, obesity, substance abuse, legal problems, heart attacks, strokes, and continued participation in violent, stressful environments.

By no means are adverse childhood events uncommon, either. Approximately 61% of adults have had at least one type of ACE’s in their childhood and one in six adults report having had four or more types of ACE’s. There is a strong correlation between the number of ACE’s experienced and outcomes. The root cause of these outcomes seems to be what’s called “toxic stress”. Essentially, toxic stress is when the body’s fight or flight responses are being continually triggered and this ultimately has an effect on the child’s brain. These fight or flight responses release many neurochemicals and physiological changes in the body. They teach the child that the world is not safe, that they need to be constantly struggling for survival. This negatively impacts the growing brain as well as causing actual changes to the child’s DNA called “epigenetic” which can result in a lifetime of mental and physical health impacts.

What does this mean to you as an adult? First, it is important to understand that these impacts are not irreversible. Nor are your childhood experiences your destiny. Many children have childhood experiences that also provide them with strength and resilience. Having a close, positive, relationship with a strong adult, such as a teacher or coach can be extremely important to mitigating these effects. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to be very powerful in helping adults overcome childhood stress. Additionally meditation is a great method of teaching your body to come down from a constant state of stress. Your doctor, hopefully a DPC doctor, may ask you to take the ACE questionnaire to get an idea of how this might be impacting your health.

Second, you can help prevent ACE’s in your community and with your own children and young relatives. If you are depressed or feeling suicidal it is extremely important that you get help. One of the major stressors in childhood is a parent or caregiver committing suicide. If you are drinking heavily, or using recreational drugs, you can get help to quit. Alcoholics Anonymous is no longer the only option; there are many medication assisted treatments (MAT) to help with alcohol. It is important to understand that there is a strong and still growing body of evidence that shows that corporal punishment is actually harmful. As the parent of a quite willful child, it is nearly a daily struggle to refrain from using spanking as a tool to correct her behavior. However, I have read the evidence and I cannot in good conscience use corporal punishment. I know that it one, does not work and two, can have a lasting negative impact on my daughter’s emotional well-being. While you may still believe in corporal punishment, remember that spanking out of anger or frustration has the potential to go too far. In any case, there are many studies showing that it does not actually improve behavior. If you are looking for alternatives to corporal punishment, there are several sites that can help you online, and this is one from verywellfamily.com.

In your community, you can volunteer and support organizations like the Boys and Girls Club, youth sports, and the YMCA. These are all organizations that strive to provide support to children of all socioeconomic backgrounds who may be experiencing trauma in their homes. You can become one of those strong adults and help children who are struggling with trauma in their home develop resilience and learn that there are people in their life that care about them. You can learn more about childhood trauma at the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. If you are a teacher or otherwise professionally involved in children’s lives, please take the time to learn more about trauma-informed classrooms. Also, be aware that LGBTQ youth are at high risk of Adverse Childhood Events and you can help by being a compassionate, helpful, listener. A good resource to refer LGBTQ youth experiencing stress at home or in their community is the Trevor Project.

Adverse childhood experiences may be impacting your health today, or you may know children who are at risk for adverse childhood experiences. If you have any concerns, please talk to your doctor or feel free to call me at 760-425- 4466 or email me at DrEdwards@wowhealingcare.com.