Health & Childhood Trauma/Neglect

Posted by Kathy Steele on Sunday, March 27th, 2011

Insights from the ACE Study

It has become increasingly evident that childhood abuse and neglect are major factors in the development of virtually all types of mental health problems, ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to depression to anxiety to some psychotic disorders. But what you may not know is that childhood trauma is also a major factor in the development of leading causes of death in adults. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is an ongoing collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente that analyzes types of childhood trauma and physical and mental health consequences later in life. The participants include over 17,000 adults from the Kaiser Permanente Department of Preventative Care in San Diego. The study looked at ten types of potentially traumatic or highly stressful experiences before the age of 18. These include: (1) recurrent physical abuse; (2) recurrent emotional abuse; (3) contact sexual abuse; (4) an addict in the home; (5) an incarcerated member of the household; (6) a household member who was chronically depressed, mentally ill, institutionalized, or suicidal; (7) domestic violence in the home; (8) one or no parents due to divorce or death; (9) emotional neglect, and (10) physical neglect.

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