Are you familiar with the term ‘ACEs’? It stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences and originates from a landmark research study completed in the 1990’s. The results showed that the greater number of traumatic situations endured in childhood, the more likely one is to experience challenges later in life. These include such conditions as depression, suicide attempts and even poor physical health risks like heart disease and cancer. The questionnaire consisted of 10 questions that covered such topics as various forms of abuse, neglect, and the status of family members (e.g., mental illness, alcoholism). While there has been a number of studies backing similar findings since the original was published some 20 years ago, new research is showing that having “counter-ACEs”, or positive childhood experiences, serve as a protective buffer against the negative long-term health effects of these early negative experiences.

I put my professor hat on to do some deep diving in preparation for this informative post and segment, tracking down the original ACEs study, the new study published just a few short months ago on ‘counter-ACEs’, as well as the counter-ACEs questionnaire this new study was based upon.

Essentially, after reviewing all of this information on counter-ACEs, these vital principles can be broken down into four categories as I see it:

1) Predictable home routines: Structure is important for all children but for those who have experienced trauma this becomes especially relevant. This is because the brain associates predictability with safety. The basics of day-to-day routine cannot be overstated. Does the child have regular meals, bedtimes, etc? If not, what could you do to slowly work towards this? Could you breakdown what getting ready for bed looks like as a starting point?

2) Opportunities for fun: Having creative, fun, and novel experiences are pure nourishment for the developing brain. For example, keeping in line with routine, could you read them bedtime stories from their favorite books? Play card games or just put the cushions on the floor and them not step off into the ‘hot lava’? “Fun” doesn’t have to be expensive (or even time consuming).

3) Having quality adults in the environment: Friends, neighbors, even teachers who care play such an instrumental role in every child’s life. So how can you ensure their environment includes such people? Perhaps tailor the last point of fun opportunities to include the child’s friends or if they don’t have many, urge them to join a group event, such as an after-school sports team, where they’ll have opportunities to make friends.

4) Feeling safe with self and others: Several of the counter-ACEs fall into this category, including having a safe caregiver, enjoying school, and having beliefs that provide comfort along with feeling comfortable with themselves. There’s a lot to be said for this category, but again, the basics cannot be overemphasized. The feeling of physical and emotional safety are at the very core essence for who we are and when we don’t feel safe, it places a restraint on our ability to thrive. One of the top pieces of advice I tell parents is that children pay far more attention to what you DO than what you SAY. So, if you’re the caregiver for an at-risk youth, take this to heart. How can you model for them what to do when things get stressful? Do you fly off the handle or can you demonstrate to them that you keep your cool? Showing how to effectively manage your stress will go a lot further than just hollow pep-talks. Not sure yourself how to do so yourself? Enroll in a free or low-cost stress management or parenting class in your community.

So what’s the biggest take away from all this? As bad as Adverse Childhood Experiences (or ACEs) can be, not having these positive childhood experiences and relationships listed above may actually be even more detrimental to lifelong health. It’s vitally important that we focus more on increasing the positives for all children, but especially for at-risk youth.