Overall Rate of Having at Least 1 ACE Is 60 Percent, According to New Global Study

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have become a huge focus of research with enough studies now that can lead to some benchmark statistics regarding their rate across the world and factors related to them. Objective: To combine studies on ACEs to provide overall metrics regarding their rate and their relation to important demographic factors. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Data from studies that investigated the rate of ACEs around the world using the common 8- or 10-item ACE Questionnaire given as a retrospective assessment when an adult were analyzed. A total of 206 studies across 22 countries were found (although 83.5% of data came from North America). Meta-analysis was used to combine the data and analyze for moderating factors. Results: The study ended up pooling a total of 546,458 adults. The main finding was that the prevalence of reporting at least 1 ACE was 60.2%. Breaking this down further, the prevalence of 1, 2, 3, and ≥4 ACEs was 22.4 more...