Child First & Center

It has been almost 30 years since the original Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study—Relationship Of Childhood Abuse And Household Dysfunction To Many Of The Leading Causes Of Death In Adults—was conducted at Kaiser Permanente from 1995 to 1997 (see About The CDC-Kaiser ACE Study). The findings were compelling. Persons who had experienced four or more ‘adverse experiences’ as children had 4- to 12-fold increased health risks for alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, and suicide attempts as adults. Adverse childhood exposures also had a relationship to the presence of ischemic heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, skeletal fractures . . .