ACEs "quiz" - online & printable versions

[JanAtheCPA]

I frequently mention and recommend the ACEs questionnaire (sometimes called a quiz)

ACE stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences, and the quiz/questionnaire has been around for quite a while - you can find numerous versions and many references to it all over the web. It is just ten Yes or No questions about childhood experiences to age 18.

My favorite resource is this NPR article which includes a super-easy online version of the questionnaire. The article itself manages to clearly explain the questionnaire and the underlying concepts in a short read - please don't skip it! For one thing, it is very important to understand that your numerical "score" is not something that is compared to anyone else - all it does is to inform YOU about the influence of childhood experiences which might explain your current experience of adulthood, especially if you are suffering in adulthood.

Even though the easiest way to score it is pure Yes or No, some of us find that there might have been an adverse factor that was influential for a few years, which was later mitigated by positive experiences. As far as I'm concerned, you can ignore the "often or very often" modifiers in the online quiz if you want to, or you might just use this alternative which avoids the modifiers: Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire for Adults (which doesn't come with the good information in the NPR article).

The quiz must be taken with brutal self-honesty, or there is no point. From a Sarno-TMS point of view, a false "NO" reinforces the emotional repression that causes TMS symptoms to begin with.

It has been suggested that it is beneficial for self-discovery if you can take the quiz from the point of view of yourself as a child.

And for those who prefer to take the test in complete privacy, use the second link above, or a printable (PDF) version of the NPR-associated questionnaire, attached below.

NOTE: I edited and enhanced this top post in July 2024 to make it more useful and explanatory, since I refer back to this post ALL the time! With thanks to @Cactusflower for the recommendation to take the test as "little you". Edited again in March 2025 to add the alternative questionnaire without "often" modifiers.

 

[Manjuno]

I've been wondering why the test doesn't account for intensity of a given type of abuse. I would probably score 4 or 5 but some of the issues were few and incidental in my case while another person may tick only one or two of those but with an extreme intensity. I'd say that person is more traumatized than I am and yet they would score way lower.

 

[Cactusflower]

Thanks for posting this @JanAtheCPA!

@Manjuno, “intensity” is still so subjective. I would never have thought my own childhood would see me score a 3. My mom was never diagnosed with depression or anxiety. Most of her anxiety was not your “typical” - it was very much more subtly expressed and we were the tools she used to try and control it. We were rarely yelled at, but often forced to do things through guilt and subtle manipulation. There was a look and a voice she would use, ever present watchfulness, moments of quiet relative peace would suddenly on a whim become these stressful bouts of forcing us to do chores to an exacting perfection ( with 0 fun).
Most people would never call this abusive. It was manipulative, sure. But the intent was punishful without cause. We were never smacked around but the wooden spoon ( which was deemed acceptable back then) got a work out but only from her.
It took another set of eyes to put this list in front of me and tell me what I went through, and what continued, to be ACE’s worthy.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

I was writing this as Cactusflower responded - I'm excited by the opportunity to examine the gazillion different ways in which individuals are affected by their childhood experiences.

@Manjuno - as always, the advice is "Don't Overthink It!"

Or, in this case, don't try to complicate a simple tool!

If you read the full article it's clear that the test is not meant to be anything other than a simple tool. As far as I'm concerned, it basically provides a starting point for therapy or for the kind of self help work offered here.

The article also explains all of the mitigating factors that might come into play in any one individual's life experience.

To try to make it something more complex and analytical defeats the purpose.

I have read in other places that 3 ACEs is reliably predictive of serious physical and mental health problems in adulthood. But that is NOT an absolute. When you're dealing with the human brain, nothing is an absolute.

My score is zero. However, I can answer #4 as follows: between the ages of 4 and 8 I experienced a sense of isolation because my parents had three more children after me, and they were too busy to give me the attention I was used to. It didn't last, and they made it up to me later.

The questions ask specifically if the adversity occurred "often" before age 18, and of course my answer is no, because it was only about four years, and of course I had not been abandoned at all - just slightly overlooked in the chaos. I was actually extremely fortunate to have had an excellent childhood.

So I made it to age 60 with only mild TMS symptoms that came and went as my anxiety and stress fluctuated. I definitely got the anxiety from my mother who was a first-time mother at 30, with three years of marriage and at least one miscarriage before I finally came along. Also zero experience with babies or small children. Thus my mild TMS - I was born with anxiety but my upbringing mitigated its effects for years.

Age 60 is when it went to hell, much of which I attribute to repressed rage about aging and mortality. I also had to finally address the anxiety seriously.

@Cactusflower, that's an amazing description of subtle abuse. Damn.

 

[Booble]

Jan, I always find it astounding how what we can see as adults to be the teeniest of teeny slights, can be catalysts like full trauma. My score is just 1. My mom could be demeaning. But I also knew she was proud of me and loved me. Maybe I'd also get a half a point for when my dad had a heart attack and I thought he was going to die. I was about 15. He didn't die until nearly 40 years later. But I was traumatized by it.

I think of all the people who have had "real" trauma. My traumas were so mild in the scheme of things. And yet, still, I have little Booble inside of me. Scared, mad, wanting to be loved, afraid to be abandoned etc etc etc. I tucked her all away for years and she silently rebelled with physical symptoms. "Pay attention to me!!" TMS has been a real key in helping to unlock this.