A private, optional reflection on ten categories of experiences before age 18. Skip this test if revisiting childhood feels unsafe today.
Method and research sourcesThe commonly used short ACE score counts ten categories of abuse, neglect, and household challenges before age 18. It is a retrospective exposure count, not a symptom test.
Each yes adds one point, producing a total from 0 to 10. The original ACE study derived categories from several survey items; this page uses the widespread ten-question shorthand, not the broader WHO ACE-IQ.
The original ACE study, current CDC overview, and WHO's broader international questionnaire are listed below.
Vincent J. Felitti, Robert F. Anda, Dale Nordenberg, et al.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
World Health Organization
Resources are selected by topic, never by an assumption about what happened to you.
How an unsafe childhood can affect adult life, why current difficulties do not prove forgotten events, and how to choose support without pressure or ready-made explanations.
How PTSD affects adults, how a flashback differs from a memory, when to seek help and what treatment focused on traumatic experiences involves.
Complete the official 20-item PCL-5 past-month PTSD symptom checklist and read a careful, non-diagnostic interpretation.
Explore attachment-related anxiety and avoidance in romantic relationships with the 36-item Experiences in Close Relationships–Revised.
No. ACE counts childhood exposure categories; PTSD requires a separate symptom-based clinical assessment.
Yes. One experience may have a major impact, and important forms of adversity are not included in these ten categories.
Only if you choose. You can discuss particular effects or needs without disclosing every event or a score.
