Vernon Coalition learns about Adverse Childhood Experiences

The Vernon Coalition learned about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and their relation to substance use.

Center for Prevention and Counseling Youth Prevention Specialist Laura Burger defined, at the coalition’s June 3 meeting, that ACEs are potentially traumatic events for children from up to 17 years old. She said the ACEs include: physical neglect, physical abuse, household dysfunction – witnessing violence, substance use or misuse in the home, experiencing violence, or having a family member attempt or die by suicide.

She reviewed the results from the “Adverse Childhood Experience Study” conducted by the Center for Disease Control through the Kaiser Permanente Health System, between 1995-1997. The study surveyed over 17,000 adults – mostly in their mid-fifties, with about 70 percent college educated.

Participants were asked ten questions about: chronic humiliation, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, loss of parent, watching mother be abused, parent with substance dependence in the home, parent with mental illness, and incarcerated family member. For every “yes,” the person received one ACE point.

Researchers discovered 67 percent of the 17,000 participants had encountered one or more categories of ACEs; 40 percent had two or more categories; and 12.5 percent experienced four or more ACEs.

Furthermore, the researchers found the higher a person’s ACE score during childhood, the more negative the person’s health outcome would be in life.

Burger said, adverse experiences trigger the “fight, flight, or freeze” response system. She gave the analogy of meeting a bear in the forest. The hypothalamus releases a signal to the pituitary, she explained, which sends a signal to the adrenal gland saying, “Release stress hormones” - Adrenaline and cortizol. The heart then speeds up, pupils dilate, airways open, and blood pumps to the extremities. “You are ready to fight or run from the bear. That’s a good thing,” she added.

However, she asked, what happens when the “bear” is in the same room with the child constantly, and the system is activated repetitively? The protection goes from lifesaving to damaging or toxic. Children are especially sensitive, she said, because their bodies and brains are developing. The ACE exposure can disrupt healthy brain development, affect social development, compromise immune systems, and lead to substance misuse or other unhealthy coping behaviors.

The CDC reported ACEs can have lasting effects on: life potential – (graduation rates, academic achievement, lost time from work; health – (obesity, diabetes, depression, suicide attempts, STDs, heart disease, cancer, stroke, COPD, broken bones); and behaviors – smoking, alcoholism, and drug use.

Consistent with national findings, Burger said, rates of exposure to adverse experiences are higher in N.J. for children in families of color and living in poverty.

ACEs cross generations, Burger said. When someone experiences trauma, it changes their behavior, health, and DNA expression. The changes are then passed down from generation to generation.

The CDC names some action goals, Burger said, to help people who have experienced multiple ACEs: support responsive relationships, strengthen core life skills, and reduce sources of stress. She also spoke of the significance for children having a positive relationship with an adult. Resiliency could be built among youth and families, she said, with more positive things helping to counter-act adverse experiences.

Burger concluded, ACEs can play a role in substance use, mental illness, and suicide.

“Together, we are addressing this issue,” she said.