Glossary of Terms
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
General public definition
- Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are currently not listed as a diagnosis in the DSM-5-TR or ICD-11.
- ACEs are potentially psychologically traumatic events in a child’s family or social life that disrupt the child’s health and cause harm or distress.
- ACEs include:
- emotional or physical neglect
- emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, or
- violence in the household.
- ACEs can make children vulnerable to later life mental health problems or disorders.
Academic definition
- Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are currently not listed as a diagnosis in either the DSM-5-TR or ICD-11.
- “Adverse childhood experiences are defined operationally as childhood events, varying in severity and often chronic, occurring in a child’s family or social environment that cause harm and distress, thereby disrupting the child’s physical or psychological health and development.”11
- Examples include (but are not limited to):
- exposure to emotional, physical, or sexual abuse
- emotional or physical neglect
- exposure to intimate partner violence, or
- dysfunction within the household (e.g. exposure to parental separation, a family member with a history of mental disorder, substance misuse, incarceration, suicide attempt, or death by suicide).
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