What are adverse childhood experiences?
Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in children (0-17 years). Trauma occurs when children are exposed to events or situations that overwhelm their ability to cope with what they have just experienced.
A traumatic experience may be a single event, a series of events, or a chronic condition; it also includes aspects of the child’s environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding, such as growing up in a household with:
Child physical abuse
This is non-accidental physical injury to a child—ranging from minor bruises to severe fractures or death that is inflicted by a parent, caregiver, or other individual who has responsibility for the child.
Child sexual abuse
It encompasses any sexual act involving a child that is intended to provide sexual gratification to a parent, caregiver, or other individual who has responsibility for the child.
Child emotional abuse
This is non-accidental verbal or symbolic acts by a child’s parent or caregiver that result or have reasonable potential to result, in significant psychological harm to the child.Emotional neglect
Refers to inattentiveness to a child’s emotional and developmental needs.
Physical neglect
Refers to the failure of a parent to provide for the child's good development such as health, education, nutrition, shelter, and safe living conditions.
Mentally ill, depressed, or suicidal person in the home
These health conditions involve changes in emotions, thinking, or behavior.
Drug-addicted or alcoholic family member
Addiction is a chronic disease characterized by drug/alcohol seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences.
Witnessing domestic violence against the mother
Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that one partner uses to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological
Loss of a parent to death or abandonment by parental divorce
Incarceration of any family member for a crime
Incarceration is the detention of a person in a prison/jail for committing a crime
Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Children
Traumatic experiences do not simply happen to children, they happen inside their brains and bodies and when this happens, the body's biological stress response is activated. Stress causes the body to release cortisol. Prolonged exposure to dangerously high levels of cortisol known as toxic stress impacts the brain’s capacity and ability to learn. Some of the effects of ACEs negatively affect children’s brain development, immune systems, and stress-response systems. These changes include:
children’s attention
decision-making and learning.
difficulty forming healthy and stable relationships.
The ability to recognize and manage different emotions.
The ability to manage behavior in a school setting.
Children Who Experience Four or More ACEs: Facts
10–12x greater risk for Intravenous Drug Use and Attempted Suicide
2–3x greater risk of developing Heart Disease and Cancer
32x more likely to have Learning and Behavioral Problems
ACEs affect everyone differently, Antara Health mental health counselors will always complete an assessment to try and find out what has happened to you/your child and how it is affecting you/them so that the right support can be arranged.
Please contact Antara to get more information about adverse childhood experiences.