A new brief uses data from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) to describe the prevalence of one or more ACEs among children from birth through age 17, as reported by a parent or guardian. The data are representative at the national and state levels. The study team estimated the national prevalence of eight specific ACEs and compared the prevalence of these ACEs across states. To examine prevalence differences by race/ethnicity and geography, they used the nine geographic divisions used by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Key Findings
- Economic hardship and divorce or separation of a parent or guardian are the most common ACEs reported nationally, and in nearly all states.
- Just under half (45 percent) of children in the United States have experienced at least one ACE, which is similar to the rate of exposure found in a 2011/2012 survey. In Arkansas, the state with the highest prevalence, 56 percent of children have experienced at least one ACE.
- Almost one in nine children nationally has experienced three or more ACEs, placing them in a category of especially high risk. In five states-Arizona, Arkansas, Montana, New Mexico, and Ohio-as many as one in seven children had experienced three or more ACEs.
- Children do not experience ACEs equally across races and ethnicities. Nationally, 61 percent of black non-Hispanic children and 51 percent of Hispanic children have experienced at least one ACE, compared with 40 percent of white non-Hispanic children and only 23 percent of Asian non-Hispanic children. In every region, the prevalence of ACEs is lowest among Asian non-Hispanic children and, in most regions, is highest among black non-Hispanic children.
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