Adverse Childhood Experience

Adverse Childhood Experience

After taking the ACE test, my score was 4 out of 10. When going through the questions asked, I can tell that the number 1 contributing factor to my ACE score was the desire to be accepted. I believe this contributed to the conditions that led to my score being what it was because I psychologically felt rejected and avoided the individuals I thought would protect me out of fear of physical abuse. Also, I believe all these factors contributed to my socioemotional development, where I believed that I had to work too hard to feel loved and accepted Beilharz et al., (2020). The findings in the ACE score also make me think critically about myself and my life, especially because Harris (2014), in the Ted Talk, reveals that people with an ACE score of 4 and above are likely to be susceptible to certain medical issues like trauma and heart disease.

If the above findings were to be evaluated using Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, I believe that he would argue that the stage that was affected in my lifetime is the first stage which is Trust vs Mistrust (Orenstein & Lewis, 2022). According to Erickson, this is the stage where a person develops trust or mistrust depending on the event during their childhood. As such, if the child’s needs are not consistently met, they develop anxiety, mistrust, and suspicion. On the other hand, if the child’s needs are met satisfactorily, they develop trust. This is exactly what I feel because I do not easily trust people. Erikson would argue that since I had the fear that I was not safe and that my need for safety was not met, that is what resulted in me being suspicious in life today. In conclusion, I believe that it is true that childhood trauma affects our health during adulthood.

References

Beilharz, J. E., Paterson, M., Fatt, S., Wilson, C., Burton, A., Cvejic, E., Lloyd, A., & Vollmer-Conna, U. (2020). The impact of childhood trauma on psychosocial functioning and physical health in a non-clinical community sample of young adults. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 54(2), 185–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867419881206

Harris, B. N. (2014). How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime. TedTalk. Retrieved From https://www.ted.com/talks/nadine_burke_harris_how_childhood_trauma_affects_health_across_a_lifetime?language=en

Orenstein, G. A., & Lewis, L. (2022). Erikson Stages of Psychosocial Development. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.

Watch this TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/nadine_burke_harris_how_childhood_trauma_affects_health_across_a_lifetime?language=en.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

---

What is your ACE Score?

What was the number 1 contributing factor to your ACE Score? Think about it from a physical, cognitive and socioemotional perspective.

What would Erikson say about your developmental stage that was affected and why in #4 above?

Bring in your textbook as an outside source PLUS one other source to respond to any/all of these questions. This Discussion Board is requiring you to bring in TWO outside sources to make your writing more credible. Who you choose to cite and how you choose to use their ‘expertise’ is up to you. Your textbook can be one of the sources.

You must start a thread before you will be able to see others postings that is 300+ words. This must occur by Thursday, July 13th at 11:59 PM. Respond to two others with approximately 150+ words that draws on something they say, maybe find a connection with their writing, or ask some questions based on their writings.

*Remember, you have to cite two sources in the first posting