1 in 2 Iowans have survived an adverse childhood experience, study says

Good points, David. 

Not quite accurate. It should say, " 1 in 2 Iowans have survived at least one of the ten categories of adversity as defined by the ACE study." The ten ACE categories do not represent all childhood adversity. They were selected for their research use. As such, the ten ACE categories have been very useful in opening our eyes to the impact of adversity. In other words, the ACE study was used to relate adversity to health consequences. IT was never intended to be used to screen for adversity. If you want to screen for adversity, then you must use a broader approach.

Dr. Martin Teicher says that witnessing a sibling being abused, for example, has greater consequences than witnessing a mother being abused. Yet, there is no ACE question that would identify this. There are a multitude of other scenarios that could be considered as significant adversity for a child but are never captured with the ten ACE questions. In all likelihood, far more Iowans have experienced childhood adversity than 55%.

This is a natural trap in which we can easily fall, but we must be diligent to avoid.