I read this - my score is a 5. I think it is a good test.

I'd like to say that it is pure idiocy to say incest is damaging only if the perp is 5 years older than the victim. I can only imagine which experts insisted on this lunacy so they would be "free of sin."

If a sibling has been given power over you to make you do as they say and has the physical advantage of size, they can force you to do as thy please sexually. Don't tell me it was mutual exploration when the victim knew from experience that they would not be rescued from physical or verbal abuse, so why this?

My score was 6. I think it is a good article and the test is ok. My brother who is 8 years older than me sexually abused me, however my brother who was 4 years older than me hit, kicked and terrorized me weekly for a couple of years. According to the test his actions don't count. maybe they should think about reworking the test.

Actually I didn't take the test...don't need one to know that I was severely abused as a child.

What I found interesting was the correlation between being abused and having so many issues in adult life. We know this is what happens, but it was good to see it in print, so to speak. I never knew that there were correlations with things like heart disease and other physical illnesses...mental illness I could understand, but physical illnesses...I never considered that until I read papers like this one.

I've had health issues my entire life. I wasn't sickly as a very young child, as far as I know. But later on, when I suffered abuse...the medical issues started...and they've never really ended despite my living a healthy lifestyle.

CecilB,
You are right. They ask if a "parent or other adult" .......... and totally do not measure the effect of a non adult with the same behaviors causing the same results. So I guess their test would under count the number of abuse victims with health problems.

This makes sense to me. The lifetime of stress that comes with the fear and shame instilled by child abuse is bound to affect our health sooner or later. And I'm sure there are subtle energetic effects from all that pain and negativity in the heart, mind and body. I agree, as well, that the five-year-older thing is arbitrary and basically BS.

I wanted to say thanks for this. I got 7. lol. Helps to put into perspective what my problems are. I was not raised to have problems. My mother thinks I'm 'genetically weak' and 'mentally susceptible' for having a nervous breakdown. And yet she's a good part of the reason I had it.

People focus on the incest. Am I the only one who spent the next 20 years 'atoning' for ruining my mother's marriage?

You're not, Bridgie. I was a "late child", 10 years younger than the sister who raised me...and molested me. I knew from an early age that I was not wanted in the house. My dad was happy to have a son, until I proved to be inept at team sports. He was rarely home, worked a lot of overtime, built model trains and cabinets when he was in the house.

So neglect and blame were part of my upbringing, and I tried so hard to earn love and respect...never did get much if any of that. No matter what I did, it wasn't ever good enough. To this day I have that tendency to excel at things so people will like me...doesn't work of course.

I recall reading a study that turned up overall higher white blood cell count in a cohort of girls known to have been sexually abused.
...So it messes with your immune system.

Another study I read showed that a childhood spent in poverty causes a lifetime of poorer health and a shorter lifespan...as a country we ought to worry about that...
1 in 4 children now grow up in poverty in the United States.

I believe the past can make you unwell.. I say this because of the way the abuse affected my emotional and psychological development.

When I cracked up ..... went into deep clinical depression and severe anxiety I had no idea what was wrong or what was happening to me! I had never heard of depression as a condition I dont know what world I lived in I thought when people mentioned feeling depressed they were a bit sad ... what a lot I had to learn!

I had actually been depressed nearly all my life oppression can lead to depression.

I had to learn why I didnt notice my stress level getting so high. I had never heard of stress, dysfunctional families, alcoholism, or anxiety. Like many people from dysfunctional family systems I carried a lot of responsibility that really wasnt mine and part of my role in the family was to tolerate abuse and NOT speak up.


If the mind (and body ) are on high alert a lot it must take its toll.

I was married at a very young age chose a man who was as bad as my father (very common) got out of that marriage after 2 children .... blah, blah, blah!

When I first went to a therapist she said dont you know why you are so depressed I looked at her in amazement and said No. In her opinion some of the reasons were too much work, suppressed anger and too much responsibility I was trying to parent with the mind/development of a 12 year old.

These two older children have now chosen to not be in contact with me any more. I WAS the one who took responsibility for them they never lived with anyone else. I tried for years to improve the relationships, apologising, explaining, trying to make amends (once I had read many books, had counselling etc).

My now husband has been very clear for a long time that there is a genetic component. Their father is a criminal, has dealt in drugs, was physically and emotionally abusive.

I now have high blood pressure and some other health issues. So, yes, the past can have some bearing on health issues.

Well... I scored a 10... Splendid(!)

Seriously though, I was always a very sickly child and as an adult I get sick very easily. I suffer with a few health issues and get really run down at times of emotional stress. I am a great believer that trauma impacts on our physical health - especially when I look at the nature of the abuse I suffered and the areas of my body that I often find issue with. Also, my skin turns into that of a hormonal adolescent when I'm particularly struggling with a trauma related subject.

I don't have any substance abuse issues, I live a relatively healthy lifestyle and eat a good balanced diet - I don't even smoke. Although in the past I had many of the issues listed, I did a lot of drugs, drank a lot, had plenty of high risk sex, self harmed and attempted suicide. I guess in the past self-care was the bottom of my list!

I've had to work hard to change my habits and learn to take care of myself yet I still suffer physically the way I did in the past. I think there is still so much to be discovered here.

I do also agree with sentiments that age shouldn't be the factor. The real factor is what happened to you how you felt. Someone a year your senior or someone that is your junior could be just as capable of affecting you the way a grown adult could as a child.

Good article though, I'm glad this research is making it out into the wider population. Hopefully it will only be a matter of time until health practitioners use ACE scores in consideration of diagnoses, interventions and treatment plans.

I thought the test concentrated too much on physical abuse and poverty.
I had sexual abuse and severe emotional abuse but not due to poverty or addiction but narcissism.