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How much adversity did you experience in childhood? There’s an app for that.

 

Trauma is so pervasive in our society that it takes a rather comprehensive survey just to delineate the types of traumatic events children are experiencing. The survey asks a person what form of adversity he or she experienced as a child. It’s a checklist of potentially traumatic events, both large and less large. In our book Anna, Age Eight we leave the language of academics behind to describe most of these experiences as terrible, horrible, no-good and very bad.

Through a search online, one can learn how the survey is being used with parents, teens and children. Some communities use the results as a call to action, advocating that local government fund trauma-informed behavioral health care in school and community settings. On the other side of the continuum are government leaders who think that adversity is character-building and if people are traumatized, then they should fix themselves.

The survey is finding its way into popular culture. I was introduced to an app housing it by a 15 year-old.

The survey that follows may bring up many memories and questions. (Full disclosure: When I scored a 5 out of 10, I found myself comparing notes with my twin on just how stressful our childhood was. The conversation was enlightening.)

ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCE SURVEY

ONE: Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often push, grab, slap, or throw something at you? Or ever hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured?

TWO: Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you? Or act in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt?

THREE: Did an adult or person at least five years older than you ever touch or fondle you or have you touch their body in a sexual way? Or attempt, or actually have, oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse with you?

FOUR: Did you often or very often feel that no one in your family loved you or thought you were important or special, or that your family didn’t look out for each other, feel close to each other, or support each other?

FIVE: Did you often or very often feel that you didn’t have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, or had no one to protect you? Or your parents were too drunk or high to take care of you or take you to the doctor if you needed to go?

SIX: Did you live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic? Or who used street drugs?

SEVEN: Was your parent or stepparent often or very often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or hit by a thrown object? Or sometimes, often, or very often, kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, or hit with something hard? Or ever repeatedly hit for at least a few minutes or threatened with a gun or knife?  

EIGHT: Was a household member depressed or mentally ill? Or did a household member attempt suicide?

NINE: Were your parents separated or divorced?

TEN: Did a household member go to prison?

Reflecting on the results

Much is written on what an ACEs score can tell an individual. There are literally more than 1000 books on childhood trauma listed on amazon, most having a self-help/behavioral health care lens.

Our book Anna Age Eight, we focus on what the ACEs scores tell us about the city we live in and its commitment to the safety of children. We provide a blueprint for our mayors and city councilors to create a seamless system of safety and trauma-informed care for all our families.

This should not come as a surprise, but the levels of adverse childhood experiences like those listed above can predict to a degree all kinds of risky behavior later on in life. Put too many of them into a childhood, and pretty soon the risk of suicide, alcoholism, illicit drug use, prescription drug misuse, smoking, severe obesity, depression, physical inactivity, risky sexual behaviors, and sexually transmitted diseases go through the roof.

Childhood trauma comes with high emotional and financial costs. There are a host of important questions to consider as we build the infrastructure to end childhood trauma. Consider this one as a starting point. How can it be that most of the American public, and the elected officials that report to them, are not especially informed or motivated to act on unsafe childhoods that are causing so many so much pain? 

 

About a community conversation on Child Welfare 2.0: The authors of Anna, Age Eight: The data-driven prevention of childhood trauma and maltreatment, Katherine Ortega Courtney, PhD and Dominic Cappello, discuss their book focused on how we must and can fix child welfare—a monumental challenge that requires the engagement of all of us. Thursday, June 28, 2018 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM, Santa Fe Community Foundation Fees: FREE. Please register. Contact:  amclaughlin@santafecf.org or 505-988-9715. Download a free chapter here: www.AnnaAgeEight.org

 

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