The Study
Out of the 17,000 participants in the study, majority were what race?
White
Before the ACE study it was commonly believed that abuse and neglect was only experienced by people of color and the poor.
What does ACE stand for?
Adverse Childhood Expirence
Do health risks increase or decrease as ACE scores go up?
They increase.
With an ACE score of 4 or more, the likelihood of chronic pulmonary lung disease increases 390 percent; hepatitis, 240 percent; depression 460 percent; attempted suicide, 1,220 percent.
What is Positive Stress response?
A normal level of stress that is essential for development. An example of this is being with a new caregiver.
The study didn't start out as one looking to see the effects of adverse experiences, what was it initally?
The ACE's study originally stemmed from an obesity clinic.
What are the three forms of abuse on the ACE questionnaire?
Physical, Emotional, and Sexual
What are some behavior risks associated with ACE scores?
Lack of physical activity, smoking, alcoholism, drug use, and missed work
What is Tolerable Stress Response?
Tolerable stress response activates the body’s alert systems to a greater degree as a result of more severe, longer-lasting difficulties, such as the loss of a loved one, a natural disaster, or a frightening injury. If the activation is time-limited and buffered by relationships with adults who help the child adapt, the brain and other organs recover the lasting affects can be lessened.
When asking patients questions about their weight throughout their life, a startling discovery was made about childhood experiences. What was the discovery?
The discovery made was that out of the 286 people being interviewed most had been sexually abused as children.
What are the two forms of neglect on the ACE questionnaire?
Physical and Emotional
What are some physical and mental health risks associated with ACE scores?
What is toxic stress response?
Excessive or prolonged activation of the stress response systems in the body and the brain. An example of this is chronic neglect.
Toxic stress damages the structure and function of a childs brain
"another piece of the puzzle that dropped into place during an interview with a woman who had been raped when she was 23 years old. In the year after the attack, she told Felitti that she’d gained 105 pounds."
What is the possible correlation between adverse childhood experience and weight?
Eating became a way for her to protect herself and was a solution to her problem.
One way its a solution is that eating worked much like alcohol, tobacco, or methamphetamines, it soothes anxiety, fear, anger, or depression. Not eating at the opposite affect and increased negative feelings.
"In the case of the woman who’d been raped, she felt as if she were invisible to men. In the case of a man who’d been beaten up when he was a skinny kid, being fat kept him safe, because when he gained a lot of weight, nobody bothered him."
What are the five types of household dysfuntion on the ACE questionnaire?
Mental illness, incarcerated parent, mother treated violently, substance abuse, and divorce
What are some physical signs a child has experienced ACE's?
Children exposed to ACEs may exhibit physical health issues like asthma, sleep disturbances, frequent infections, frequent headaches or stomach aches
What are some signs of toxic stress response in children?
Common signs of toxic stress in children is behavioral problems.
In young children crying more than usual, becoming extra clingy, regressing to bed wetting or baby talk, or developing new fears.
In older children, behavioral symptoms could include learning difficulties, juvenile offending, substance abuse, suicidality, and risky sexual behavior.