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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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