SUMMARY: Adverse childhood experiences summary. What we know, what we don’t know, and what should happen next.

Kirsten Asmussen, Freyja Fischer, Elaine Drayton and Tom McBride. The Early Intervention Foundation. February 2020.

This research charity focuses on promoting and enabling an evidence-based approach to early intervention. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traditionally understood as a set of 10 traumatic events or circumstances occurring before the age of 18 that have been shown through research to increase the risk of adult mental health problems and debilitating diseases. Five of these relate to forms of abuse. However, other adverse events exist and should not be ignored. The lack of evidence in several areas is highlighted.