The term Adverse Childhood Experience (ACES) came out of a study in 1998 that impacted the health care and mental health care world significantly often referred to as the ACES study (Feletti et al., 1998).
You can find as much information as you would like about the study at https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/about.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fviolenceprevention%2Facestudy%2Fabout.html
The study determined that experiencing adverse childhood experiences from an early age led to several health consequences later in life.
The study identified the following as ACES:
Abuse: Physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse
Neglect: Physical and emotional neglect
Household Dysfunction: Caregiver who has a mental illness, mother treated violently (e.g., Domestic Violence), incarcerated relative, and parental substance abuse in the home
The study did not include traumatic loss, separation, bereavement, sexual and physical assault, community violence, serious medical trauma, accidents, fires, natural disasters, war, terrorism, school violence, racial trauma, bullying, etc.
It is just important to note that the ACES study taught a lot about the health consequences associated with exposure to early adversity, however, it did not look at every type of trauma exposure. Being clear about what we mean when we talk about ACES is important, which is why there are often other terms such as child traumatic stress or child trauma that are used.
Other limitations include data collected over 25 years ago and the subjects were generally white with health insurance. The study did not include a culturally and socio-economic diverse population.
For another presentation that helps illustrate these points, go to http://www.canarratives.org/
