Childhood Adversity (ACE)

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) — ten questions developed for the CDC-Kaiser study in the late nineties. Used in research and clinics worldwide. Screening, not diagnosis.

Answer yes or no to each. There's no score until you've done all ten.

My score

I scored 3.

Under the threshold of 4, where the risk really starts to climb. Honestly lower than you might expect given how much I write about this.

Here's what I've come round to, though. The checklist catches the big, obvious wounds. It misses the slow story — a well-meaning parent and a temperamentally sensitive kid who just didn't speak the same emotional language, accumulating small ruptures that never quite healed. Year after year.

None of that scores. And I think it might matter just as much. So if you scored low and still feel like something's off, I get it. The number isn't the whole thing.

Where to Go from Here

• What's Your ACE Score?
• My Dad Still Irritates Me
• A Letter to My Father That He Will Never Read
• Old Wounds

Andersen, J. P., & Blosnich, J. (2013). Disparities in adverse childhood experiences among sexual minority and heterosexual adults: Results from a multi-state probability-based sample. PLOS ONE, 8(1), e54691. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054691

Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8