Adverse Childhood Experiences Part Two

To date, more than 50 scientific articles have been published on the ACE Study. The initial study was conducted at Kaiser Permanente from 1995 to 1997, with more than 17,000 participants completing a standard physical examination taking into account the following:

Individual Risk Factors

• Children under four years of age

• Children with special needs

The medical status of the baseline participants was measured and the ACEs tested were for:

Physical abuse

Sexual abuse

Emotional abuse

Physical neglect

Emotional neglect

Violence towards the mother

Household substance abuse

Household mental illness

Parental separation

Incarcerated household member

Some of the risk factors associated with Adverse Childhood Experiences, are shared here:

• Parents’ lack of understanding of a child’s needs

• Parental characteristics such as young age, low education, single parent, large number of dependent children and low income

• Parents’ history of childhood maltreatment in family of origin

• Parents thoughts and emotions which tend to support and justify maltreatment behaviours

• Substance abuse and or mental health issues including depression

• Non-biological, transient caregivers in the home (e.g. mother’s partner)

Family Risk Factors

• Family disorganisation, dissolution and violence including intimate partner violence

• Social isolation

• Parenting stress, negative interactions and poor parent-child relationship

Community Risk Factors

• Community violence

• Concentrated neighbourhood disadvantages (e.g. high unemployment rates, high density alcohol outlets, history of poverty, residential instability, poor social connections)

Further research into early childhood trauma, indicates that if a mother dies through tragic death, is absent physically or emotionally or is unavailable due to abandonment or early adoption etc, the daughter may have no memory at all of her mother or only a fleeting one. For other daughters, their mothers can seem dead to them due to a lack of bonding and the daughter will go on to mourn for an experience she never had. Accepting the reality of our childhood traumas becomes easier with understanding. It is possible to overcome the hurtful parts of your past, using the tools and techniques I will be sharing with you.

Understanding our adverse childhood experiences and working through the range of emotions using EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and The Spotlight Process as shown in Chapter Six of Mothers and Daughters: The guide to undersyanding and transforming the relationship with your mother, aids further healing of your childhood traumas, bringing relief from the complex mother-daughter relationship and the relationships in your early life.

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