Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Scores highlight and 'score' the traumatic events people experience prior to turning 18. These traumatic events can have lasting impacts and lead to a multitude of adverse outcomes later in life. In this episode, we will discuss the origin of the ACE score, the questions that make up one's ACE score, as well as how one's ACE score can be a factor in the development of substance use disorder(s). Disclaimer: one's ACE score does not define you! 

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey ACE Data. Atlanta, Georgia: US Department of Health and Human Services. 

Delisi, Stephen. Greater Risk: The Intersection of ACEs/Trauma and Substance Use Disorders. 

Felitti, VJ, et al. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. American journal of preventive medicine, 14(4), 245–258. 

Herzog JI, Schmahl C. Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Consequences on Neurobiological, Psychosocial, and Somatic Conditions Across the Lifespan. Front Psychiatry. 2018;9:420. Published 2018 Sep 4. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00420 

Merrick MT, Ports KA, Ford DC, Afifi TO, Gershoff ET, Grogan-Kaylor A. Unpacking the impact of adverse childhood experiences on adult mental health. Child Abuse Negl. 2017;69:10–19. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.03.016 

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, April 2, 2019 

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