Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Research & Resources

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Utah Child Abuse/Neglect Hotline: 1-855-323-3237

Utah Department of Health's child maltreatment overview includes Utah Utah child maltreatment statistics, effects of child maltreatment, and references. The section on child maltreatment prevention includes information for parents and caregivers as well as community partners. 

Child maltreatment resources:

• Child Injury Deaths in Utah, 2005-2007 report (PDF)
• 1996-1998 Utah Child Fatality Review report (PDF)

The Utah Health Status Update (PDF) is dated July 2015 and is four pages long. ACE questions were included in the 2013 Utah Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) creating the opportunity to examine the adjusted effects of direct and environmental ACEs on tobacco and alcohol use as well as selected health outcomes. The BRFSS is an ongoing effort by the Utah Department of Health in conjunction with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess the prevalence of and trend in health-related behaviors in the non-institutionalized Utah adult population aged 18 years and older.

H.C.R. 10 Concurrent Resolution Encouraging Identification and Support of Traumatic Childhood Experiences Survivors

2017 General Legislative Session, State of Utah

General Description:
This concurrent resolution encourages state officers, agencies, and employees to promote interventions and practices to identify and treat child and adult survivors of severe emotional trauma and other adverse childhood experiences using interventions proven to help and develop resiliency in these survivors. 

Highlighted Provisions:
This resolution: highlights recent advances in understanding the impact of adverse childhood experiences on an individual's future outcomes; encourages state officers, agencies, and employees to become informed regarding well-documented detrimental short-term and long-term impacts to children and adults from serious traumatic childhood experiences; and encourages state officers, agencies, and employees to implement evidence-based interventions and practices that are proven to be successful in developing resiliency in children and adults currently suffering from trauma-related disorders. 

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ACESTooHigh is a news site that reports on research about adverse childhood experiences, including developments in epidemiology, neurobiology, and the biomedical and epigenetic consequences of toxic stress. ACEs Too High also covers how people, organizations, agencies and communities are implementing practices based on the research. This includes developments in education,  juvenile justice, criminal justice, public health, medicine, mental health, social services, and cities, counties and states.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) area from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) section on violence prevention: Childhood experiences, both positive and negative, have a tremendous impact on future violence victimization and perpetration, and lifelong health and opportunity. As such, early experiences are an important public health issue. Much of the foundational research in this area has been referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). ACEs can be prevented. Learn more about preventing ACEs in your community. 

Risk & Protective Factors: A combination of individual, relational, community, and societal factors contribute to the risk of child abuse and neglect. Although children are not responsible for the harm inflicted upon them, certain characteristics have been found to increase their risk of being maltreated. Risk factors are those characteristics associated with child abuse and neglect—they may or may not be direct causes.

A collection from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of news, perspectives, and other resources to help raise awareness, prevent ACEs and improve resiliency.

Every year millions of children undergo physical or emotional trauma. On this site you'll find free online courses that offer creative and practical approaches to understanding and working with maltreated children:

• The Amazing Human Brain and Human Development: Discover the hows and whys of the human brain, and gain a better understanding of brain functioning in maltreated children. 
• Bonding and Attachment in Maltreated Children
• The Cost of Caring: Secondary Traumatic Stress and the Impact of Working with High-Risk Children and Families 
• Surviving Childhood: An Introduction to the Impact of Trauma: Learn the physiological and psychological aspects of trauma, the effects of this trauma on our society, and how you can help.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network's (NCTSN) section on early childhood trauma has sections on the scope of the problem, symptoms and behaviors associated with exposure to trauma, protective factors, identifying and providing services to children who have been exposed to trauma, helping young children who have been exposed to trauma, and treatments.

This research brief, published by Child Trends in 2018 and funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation uses data from the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) to describe the prevalence of one or more ACEs among children from birth through age 17, as reported by a parent or guardian. The data are representative at national and state levels. The study team estimated the national prevalence of eight specific ACEs and compared the prevalence of these ACEs across states. To examine prevalence differences by race/ethnicity and geography, researchers used the nine geographic divisions used by the U.S. Census Bureau. Report headings include: Overview, Key Findings, Adverse Childhood Experiences Can Have Profound Effects, Measurement of Adverse Childhood Experiences, State-Level Variation in the Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences, Economic Hardship and Parental Separation or Divorce Are the Most Common Adverse Childhood Experiences, Disparities by Race and Ethnicity Are Evident at National and Divisional Levels, Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences, Conclusions, About the Data Used in This Brief, and References. See also: Errata (None of these changes materially affect the key findings of the report.)

From the American Academy of Pediatrics, The Resilience Project is dedicated to helping and protecting today's youth. The website also includes ​​​a training toolkit—an education tool for pediatricians, residents, medical home teams, and others to better understand the effects of exposure to violence and how to approach the issue in the pediatric medical home setting.

Highlighted resource:

• Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Lifelong Consequences of Trauma (2014) (PDF)

CDC infographic illustrating ACEs data, including prevalence, effects, and economic toll. Move the slider on the interactive graphic entitled "How do ACEs Affect Our Lives?" to see negative-outcome data and statistics displayed in real-time as ACEs rise.