The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences 

Many researches has been done to find out the effect of childhood trauma on emotional responsiveness towards negative stimuli or stressor, as a result we all know that childhood adverse experience influences how we react to the negative events. Interestingly, a new study revealed that childhood adverse experience also affects the way one respond to the positive event. Let’s see what does this mean. 

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) 

Adverse childhood experiences are traumatic events that occur before the age of 18. It can be anything that cause distress to the child. For example; physical abuse, emotional abuse, loss of parents or family members etc., ACEs are associated with toxic stress that can cause damage to the body by creating change or deteriorating the performance of immune system, metabolic activity, cardiovascular activity etc., 

The first research on ACE 

The first research that explored the consequences of ACEs on adulthood was done in 1955, by the researchers of Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This study was done on 17,000 participants. And they were enquired about the possible traumatic experiences. The result found that 66% of the participants at least experienced one ACE and 20% of them experienced three ACEs.  

The impact of ACE on positive events 

A recent study done at Heriot-Watt University by Dr. Sophie Potter et al., was published in a journal called Emotion. This study was done on 2000 adults aged between 35 – 86 for 8 days where participants were tracked on their emotions and experiences. The study found that individuals who have experienced any kind of abuse or emotional neglect are found to be more reactive to a positive event in a negative way than a person diagnosed with mental health condition. They tend to experience more emotional distress and less joy irrespective of the occasion which should result in happiness. The impact of childhood trauma one underwent can have a long-lasting impact even into the adulthood and they are found to be more reactive to the everyday life problems or stressors.  

And the author says that most research studied the effect of childhood adversity in clinical populations only (i.e. those who are diagnosed with depression, anxiety etc.). But he attempted  to study the impact in the general population and the result indicate that there are people who do not have clinical conditions but still shows subtle symptoms. 

Prevention of ACEs  

• Creating awareness on the consequences of ACEs. 
• Promoting anti-violence in community. 
• Prevention of physical abuse. 
• Encourage parenting skills and socio-emotional learning. 

Conclusion 

Research indicates that childhood adversity creates impact on emotional well-being and those individuals tend to exhibit heightened sensitivity to daily stressor and diminished capacity to derive joy from positive events. Understanding these patterns are important to tailor  intervention for them and also help the affected individual to lead a more balanced emotional experience.