Transcript Slide 1

The Adverse Childhood
Experiences Study
March 13, 2014
Presentation Overview
1)Adverse Childhood Experiences Study Findings
2) How to create stable, nurturing relationships and
communities
The study
• Examined health and social effects of adverse
childhood experiences throughout lifespan
• Conducted by Dr. Robert Anda, CDC and Dr.
Vincent Felitti, Kaiser Permanente
• Decade-long study involving 17,000 people
– Demographics: primary care setting, educated,
middle class, predominantly white
• Largest study ever done on the subject
10 COMMON TRAUMAS
CHILDHOOD ABUSE
• Physical
• Emotional
• Sexual
CHILDHOOD NEGLECT
• Physical
• Emotional
HOUSEHOLD DYSFUNCTION
• Substance Abuser
• Mental Illness
• Parental loss
• Witnessing violence
• Crime in household
Source: Dr. Robert Anda and Dr. Vincint Felitti, Adverse Childhood
Experiences Study, 1995
Impact of ACEs on Early Brain Development
Emotional regulation
Verbal & spacial memory,
Management of fear,
panic emotional
understanding, emotional
responses
Ability to put the brakes
on outbursts
Thinking & judgment
Stress is Hard-Wired Into Biology
Long term memory
Executive function
Affect, attention
Regulating mental health
Movement through space
Reacting to peripheral details
Early
Childhood
Pre-puberty &
Adolescence
Middle Childhood
Cross-brain function
Language & math proficiency &
integration
Notice & interpret social cues
Spoken language
Meaning from visual cues
Vulnerability: PTSD, suicide,
profound depression
What it found
Of those surveyed:
ACEs are •
common •
1 in 4 exposed to 2 categories of ACEs
•
22% were sexually abused as children.
•
66% of the women experienced abuse,
violence or family strife in childhood.
1 in 5 experienced 3 or more.
Typical
High School
Classroom
What it found
Childhood experiences are
powerful determinants of
who we become as adults.
What it found
ACEs are commonly linked to:
• Developmental
impairment in children
• Chronic depression
• Attempted suicide
• Alcohol use
• Smoking
• Illicit drug use
• Risky sexual behaviors
• Liver disease
• Heart disease
• Victim of domestic violence
• Impaired worker
performance
• Health-related quality of
life
• Early mortality
What it found
People with
4 or more ACEs
compared to those
with 0 ACEs
RISK FACTOR
% INCREASE
Smoking
242%
Obesity
222%
Depression
357%
Illicit drug use
443%
Injected drug use
1,133%
Sexually Transmitted
Diseases
298%
Attempted suicide
1,525%
Alcoholism
555%
Probability of outcomes
Given 100 American Adults
33
Report No ACEs
51
Report 1-3 ACEs
16
Report 4-8 ACEs
WITH 0 ACEs
1 in 16 smokes
WITH 3 ACEs
1 in 9 smokes
WITH 7+ ACEs
1 in 6 smokes
1 in 69 are alcoholic
1 in 9 are alcoholic
1 in 6 are alcoholic
1 in 480 uses IV drugs
1 in 43 uses IV drugs
1 in 30 use IV drugs
1 in 14 has heart
disease
1 in 7 has heart disease 1 in 6 has heart disease
1 in 96 attempts suicide 1 in 10 attempts suicide 1 in 5 attempts suicide
Impaired Worker Performance
Prevalence of Impaired
Performance (%)
25
20
ACE Score
0
1
2
3
4 or more
15
10
5
0
Absenteeism (>2
days/month
Serious Financial
Poblems
Serious Job
Problems
Alcohol use and abuse
40
Percent with alcohol-related problem
ACE Score
35
0
1
2
3
4 or more
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Alcoholic
Married an Alcoholic
The ACE Score, Smoking, and Lung Disease
20
Percent With Health Problem
18
ACE Score
0
1
2
3
4 or more
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Early smoking Initiation
Current smoking
COPD
Teen Sexual Behaviors
45
ACE Score
40
35
0
1
2
3
4 or more
Percent
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Intercourse by Age 15
Teen Pregnancy
Teen Paternity
Attempted Suicide
% Attempting Suicide
25
20
4+
15
10
3
5
2
1
0
0
ACE Score
The Magnitude of the Solution
ACE reduction
reliably predicts
simultaneous
decrease in all of
these conditions.
Population
attributable risk
Source: Washington Family Policy Council
The ACE survey
• Please take a few minutes to complete the
survey anonymously.
Reflections
• Do you see any of these ACEs in children in
your care? In your friends and colleagues? In
yourself?
• Does this survey make sense? What
questions do you have about this survey or
what it means?
• What can we do with this information?
Now what?
children
Resilience Trumps ACEs
• For children with ACEs, adults can help by
– Understanding ACEs
– Create environments where children feel safe
– Help children identify their feelings and learn how
to manage their emotions
– Create protective factors in the schools,
communities and at home
–
From Spokane Regional Health District: Community & Family Services Division; Stress and Brain Development, Understanding
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Creating Protective Factors
• Parental Resilience
– Ability to problem-solve and build relationships
• Nurturing and attachment
– Listening and responding to a child in a supportive way
• Social Connections
– Having family, friends, or neighbors who are willing to help or listen
• Concrete Supports
– Having child’s basic needs met: housing, food, clothing, and healthcare
• Knowledge of parenting and child development
– Increasing parent’s knowledge of development and appropriate
expectations for their child’s behavior
• Social and emotional competence of children
– Helping children to interact positively with others, manage their
emotions, and communicate feelings
–
From Spokane Regional Health District: Community & Family Services Division; Stress and Brain Development, Understanding
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Principle One:
Always Empower, Never Disempower
Students affected by trauma often compete with
their teachers for power. This is because they
believe that controlling their environment is the
way to achieve safety (Craig, 1992).
Principle Two:
Provide Unconditional Positive Regard
Traumatic events make it difficult for children to trust. They
make it difficult to feel worthy, take initiative, and form
relationships. Students struggling with trauma don’t need
another adult to tell them what is wrong with them. What
they do need, what helps them thrive, is an adult who treats
them with simple sustained kindness, an adult who can
empathize with the challenges they face moving between
home and school.
Principle Three:
Maintain High Expectations
Teachers may be so concerned about disempowering their
students that they may be hesitant to set limits. As a
consequence, expectations for achievement are lowered. Doing
so inadvertently sends negative messages such as “you are too
damaged to behave” or “you are different than others so I am
giving up on you.” Note that these messages can increase the
perception of the student that they are powerless. Increased
feelings of powerlessness lead to increased symptoms of
traumatic affect.
Principle Four:
Check Assumptions, Observe and Question
Traumatic events can affect any person, family or group of
people. When we make assumptions about who is likely to be
traumatized based on a stereotype of any one group of people,
this may stop us from seeing who actually has been affected by
trauma.
1) Identify Assumptions.
2) Observe.
3) Ask Questions; and
4) Listen.
Principle Five:
Be a Relationship Coach
Compassionate teachers think of themselves as relationship
coaches. After all, the relationships we establish with and
among students influence the tone and demeanor in our
classrooms.
Principle Six:
Provide Guided Opportunities for
Helpful Participation
Meaningful participation gives us opportunities to be heard, to
make choices, to have responsibilities, to belong, and to engage
in problem solving. When we make meaningful contributions to
the welfare of others, we improve our own feelings of selfworth. Helping others strengthens resiliency. Providing guided
opportunities for participation is an important principle of
compassionate teaching. Such supervised opportunities can
provide solace, create mutual trust, and affirm the self-worth of
those involved.
10 Ways to Build Resilience
1) Make connections
2) Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable
problems
3) Accept that change is a part of living
4) Move toward your goals
5) Take decisive actions
Source: America Psychological Association
10 Ways to Build Resilience
6) Look for opportunities for selfdiscovery
7) Nurture a positive view of yourself
8) Keep things in perspective
9) Maintain a hopeful outlook
10) Take care of yourself
Source: America Psychological Association
Thank You!
• Questions?
Group Discussion: What now?
• What principles or ways to build resilience resonated
with me?
• What didn’t I like or agree with about this information?
• What is one real thing I can do with this information?
– Change in mindset – the way we see children.
• How have my views changed with this information?
– Change in action – the way we act with children, colleagues, etc.
• What will I do with this information?
– Change in advocacy – telling friends about this information.
• Who will I tell about this information?