Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Building Resilience Through Awareness and Action

What Are Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)?

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur during childhood, from birth through age 17. These experiences can range from abuse and neglect to household challenges that disrupt a child’s sense of safety and stability.

Common Types of ACEs

• Abuse: Physical, emotional, or sexual harm.

• Neglect: Physical or emotional deprivation.

• Household Challenges: Witnessing domestic violence, growing up with caregivers who struggle with substance use or mental illness, or experiencing the incarceration of a family member.

Each ACE doesn’t exist in isolation; they often overlap, compounding the effects of toxic stress on a child’s body and mind.

The Lasting Impact of ACEs

Research by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente (the original ACE Study) revealed a clear and powerful truth: the more ACEs a person experiences, the higher their risk for long-term health and social problems.

Health Consequences

• Greater risk for chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

• Increased likelihood of mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

• Higher rates of risky health behaviors including smoking, substance use, or overeating.

Social and Behavioral Effects

• Difficulties with school engagement, concentration, and attendance.

• Struggles in relationships and social trust.

• Increased involvement in justice or social service systems.

Economic Impact

The CDC estimates that ACE-related trauma contributes billions annually in healthcare costs, lost productivity, and social services. The ripple effect reaches far beyond the child, it impacts communities and generations.

The Science Behind ACEs: Toxic Stress and Brain Development

When children are exposed to chronic stress without consistent support, their bodies stay in a constant state of “fight, flight, or freeze. ”This prolonged activation, called toxic stress, can disrupt the development of the brain, immune system, and stress-response hormones.

Over time, toxic stress can:

• Alter brain structures involved in emotion regulation and memory.

• Increase inflammation and weaken the immune system.

• Affect decision-making, impulse control, and learning capacity.

However, the brain’s neuroplasticity means healing is possible, especially when children experience stability, empathy, and supportive relationships.

Preventing ACEs: Building Protective Systems Around Families

Prevention means reducing the sources of stress that harm children and strengthening the conditions that help them thrive.

Key Prevention Strategies

• Strengthen economic supports for families (affordable childcare, paid leave, living wages).

• Promote positive social norms that reject violence and prioritize emotional well-being.

• Ensure a strong start through access to early childhood education and developmental screenings.

(See the CDC’s ACE Prevention Resource Center for more on evidence-based prevention strategies.)

Intervention: Healing Through Trauma-Informed Care

Even when ACEs have occurred, healing can begin through trauma-informed care, a framework that emphasizes safety, trust, empowerment, and collaboration.

Core Intervention Approaches

• Trauma-informed schools and clinics that recognize behavior as communication.

• Parenting programs (like PCIT and TBRI) to build connection and co-regulation.

• Community-based supports that create consistent, stable environments for children.

When caregivers are supported and trauma is understood, cycles of harm can be replaced with cycles of healing.

Policy and Advocacy: Systems-Level Change

Reducing ACEs is not just a family issue, it’s a public health imperative.

Policy Priorities

• Support anti-poverty and equity-focused legislation.

• Fund mental health access in schools and communities.

• Promote data collection and research to understand long-term ACE outcomes.

• Advocate for cross-system collaboration between education, healthcare, and child welfare sectors.

Communities that invest in prevention and early intervention see measurable improvements in health, safety, and academic outcomes.

Building Resilience: The Path Forward

While ACEs can have profound effects, resilience offers a path to healing. Resilience doesn’t mean the absence of stress, it means the presence of protective relationships, skills, and supports that help children recover and thrive.

Protective Factors That Build Resilience

• Stable, nurturing relationships with caregivers, teachers, and mentors.

• Social-emotional skills such as emotional regulation and problem-solving.

• Access to mental and physical healthcare.

• Safe, supportive community environments where children feel they belong.

By intentionally building these protective layers, we can buffer the impact of adversity and change lifelong trajectories.

Conclusion

Every child deserves the chance to grow up safe, loved, and resilient. Understanding ACEs isn’t about labeling trauma, it’s about learning how to break its cycle.

Through prevention, trauma-informed care, and advocacy, educators, parents, and communities can work together to ensure that past pain does not define a child’s future.

When we recognize the story behind the behavior, we begin the real work of transformation.

Written by Derek Setser, educator and founder of Turning Scholars Into Leaders. Explore related insights on Trauma-Informed Classrooms, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), and TBRI.