THE
WHAT ARE THEY?
ACEs
ADVERSE
CHILDHOOD
EXPERIENCES
The three types of ACEs include
ABUSE
NEGLECT
HOUSEHOLD DYSFUNCTION
Physical
Physical
Mental Illness
Incarcerated Relative
Emotional
Emotional
Mother treated violently
Substance Abuse
Divorce
Sexual
HOW PREVALENT ARE ACEs?
The Initial ACE study 1 and an analysis of Iowa's Behavioral Risk Factor
Surveillance System (BRFSS)2 participants revealed the following estimates:
ABUSE
National
28.3%
Physical Abuse
16%
Iowa
20.7%
Sexual Abuse
10%
10.6%
Emotional Abuse
28%
percentage of study participants
that experienced a specific ACE
HOUSEHOLD DYSFUNCTION
26.9%
Household Substance Abuse
26%
23.3%
Parental Divorce
22%
19.4%
Household Mental Illness
17%
12.7%
Mother Treated Violently
16%
4.7%
Incarcerated Household Member
7%
Of 17,000 ACE
study participants:
26%
1 ACE
16%
2 ACEs
36%
have experienced
0 ACEs
12.4%
4+ ACEs
64% have at least
1 ACE
9.5%
3 ACEs
Of 6,361 Iowa BRFSS
survey respondents:
21.3%
1 ACE
11.8%
2 ACEs
45%
have experienced
0 ACEs
14.7% have 4+
ACES, higher
than the
national average
7.2%
3 ACEs
14.7%
4+ ACEs
WHAT IMPACT DO ACEs HAVE?
As the number of ACEs increases, so does
the risk for negative health outcomes
RISK
0 ACEs 1 ACE
2 ACEs
3 ACEs
4+ ACEs
Possible Risk Outcomes:
BEHAVIOR
Lack of physical activity
Smoking
Alcoholism
Drug use
Missed work
PHYSICAL & MENTAL HEALTH
Severe obesity
Diabetes
Depression
Suicide attempts
STDs
Heart disease
Cancer
Stroke
COPD
Broken bones
rwjf.org/vulnerablepopulations
1
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/ace/prevalence.htm 2Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data. Iowa Department of Public Health in collaboration with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012.