Remember the ACEs and PACEs
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29173/jafn732Keywords:
ACES, PACES, trauma, asset-based assessmentAbstract
While Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are well‐established risk factors for mental illness, the protective factors that promote resilience often less well known nor, at times, highlighted at all. Protective and Compensatory Experiences (PACEs) are positive experiences that can increase resilience and protect against risk for mental and physical illness. PACEs are powerful elements of everyday life that already exist, or can be engineered, to occur routinely and frequently, and can be leveraged to support treatment goals and activities. Although it might never be possible to prevent ACEs from occurring in the lives of children, nurses can put an emphasis on the value of PACEs, healthy relationships, and resources, to directly minimize the line between adverse childhood experiences and the sequalae of physical and psychological effects into adulthood. PACEs are often overlooked, but powerful tools, that can support therapeutic interventions and mental health throughout the life course.
References
American Academy of Forensic Sciences (2022). Presidential spotlight on the forensic nursing science section. https://www.aafs.org/article/presidential-spotlight-forensic-nursing-science-section
Anda, R.F., Felitti, V.J., Bremner, J.D., et al. (2006). European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 256:174‐86 doi.org/10.1007/s00406-005-0624-4
Bryant-Genevier, J., Rao C. Y., Lopes-Cardozo B., Kone A., Rose C., Thomas I., Orquiola D.,Lynfield R., Shah D., Freeman, L., Becker, S., Williams A., Gould D. W., Tiesman H., Lloyd G., Hill L., Byrkit R. (2021). Symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic, stress disorder, and suicidal ideation among state, tribal, local, and territorial public health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic-United States, March-April 2021. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70(48), 1680-1685. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7048a6
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021). About the CDC-Kaiser ACE Study. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/about.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023a). Fast facts: Preventing adverse childhood experiences. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/fastfact.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023b). Teen newsletter: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). https://www.cdc.gov/museum/education/newsletter/2023/mar/index.html
Center for Social Policy. (2014). The Strengthening Families Approach and Protective Factors Framework. https://cssp.org/our-work/projects/protective-factors-framework/
Child Mind Institute (2022). How trauma affects kids in school: Signs of trauma and tips for helping kids who’ve been traumatized. https://childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school/
Harvard University Center on the Developing Child (2023). ACEs and toxic stress: Frequently asked questions. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/aces-and-toxic-stress-frequently-asked-questions/
Hays‐Grudo, J., & Morris, A.S. (2020). Adverse and protective childhood experiences: A developmental perspective. Washington: American Psychological Association.
Leitch L. (2017). Action steps using ACEs and trauma-informed care: A resilience model. Health Justice, 5(1):5. doi: 10.1186/s40352-017-0050-5.
Morris, A.S., Hays-Grudo, J., Zapata, M.I., Treat, A., & Kerr, K.L. (2021). Adverse and protective childhood experiences and parenting attitudes: The role of cumulative protection in understanding resilience. Adversity and Resilience Science, 2(3):181-192. doi: 10.1007/s42844-021-00036-8.
Morris, A.S., & Hays-Grudo, J. (2023). Protective and compensatory childhood experiences and their impact on adult mental health. World Psychiatry, 22(1):150-151. doi:10.1002/wps.21042 .
National Children’s Alliance (2023). National statistics on child abuse. https://www.nationalchildrensalliance.org/media-room/national-statistics-on-child-abuse/#:~:text=More%20than%20600%2C000%20children%20are,which%20there%20is%20national%20data.
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (2023). Social determinants of health. https://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health#:~:text=What%20are%20social%20determinants%20of,of%2Dlife%20outcomes%20and%20risks.
PACES Connection. (2023). 3 Realms of ACEs. https://www.pacesconnection.com/ws/Handouts_3RealmsACEs_EN.pdf
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2023). Understanding child trauma. https://www.samhsa.gov/child-trauma/understanding-child-trauma
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (2023). School personnel. https://www.nctsn.org/audiences/school-personnel
Webster, E.M. (2022). The impact of adverse childhood experiences on health and development in young children. Global Pediatric Health, 26 (9) doi: 10.1177/2333794X221078708
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Paul Thomas Clements, Natalie Evenson, Leah Racheal Helmbrecht
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.