“It’s so incredible to finally understand myself.”

Take your ACE Test

Discover your Adverse Childhood Experiences score in 10 questions

Understanding ourselves as adults often means revisiting our childhoods. When you take your ACE test, or adverse childhood experience test, it helps you do that.

Graphic : NPR

Your answers are confidential.
No identifying information is gathered.

Start

Question 1 of 10

Before your 18th birthday, did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often…
swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you?
Yes No

Question 2 of 10

Before your 18th birthday, did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often…
push, grab, slap, or throw something at you?
or
ever hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured?
Yes No

Question 3 of 10

Before your 18th birthday, did an adult or person at least five years older than you ever…
touch or fondle you or have you touch their body in a sexual way?
or
attempt or actually have oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse with you?
Yes No

Question 4 of 10

Before your eighteenth birthday, did you often or very often feel that…
no one in your family loved you or thought you were important or special?
or
your family didn’t look out for each other, feel close to each other, or support each other?
Yes No

Question 5 of 10

Before your 18th birthday, did you often or very often feel that…
you didn’t have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, and had no one to protect you?
or
your parents were too drunk or high to take care of you or take you to the doctor if you needed it?
Yes No

Question 6 of 10

Before your 18th birthday, was a biological parent ever lost to you through divorce, abandonment, or other reason?
Yes No

Question 7 of 10

Before your 18th birthday, was your mother or stepmother:
often or very often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or had something thrown at her?
or
sometimes, often, or very often kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, or hit with something hard?
or
ever repeatedly hit over at least a few minutes or threatened with a gun or knife?
Yes No

Question 8 of 10

Before your 18th birthday, did you live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic, or who used street drugs?
Yes No

Question 9 of 10

Before your 18th birthday, was a household member depressed or mentally ill, or did a household member attempt suicide?
Yes No

Question 10 of 10

Before your 18th birthday, did a household member go to prison?
Yes No

Has anything important happened before your 18th birthday that you think we should have covered?

Next

Please answer these additional questions:

Birth Year:

Sex:

Race:

Your ACE score is

More About Your Score

Reset The Quiz

What is the ACE test?

The ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) test is a measure of traumatic experiences that examines the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and adult health and social outcomes. Examples of ACEs include family separation, mental, or physical abuse. The ACE test is based on the ACE Study conducted by Kaiser Permanente and the CDC.

What are ACEs?

The ACE study looks at three categories of adverse experience: childhood abuse, which included emotional, physical, and sexual abuse; neglect, including both physical and emotional neglect; and household challenges, which included growing up in a household where there was substance abuse, mental illness, violent treatment of a mother or stepmother, parental separation/divorce or had an incarcerated household member. Respondents were given an ACE score between 0 and 10 based on how many of the 10 types of adverse experiences they reported experiencing.

How do ACEs impact health?

The higher your ACE score, the higher your chance of suffering from psychological and medical problems like chronic depression, cancer, or coronary heart disease. The chart below shows the consequences of an ACE score of 4 or higher. From this score, the likelihood of chronic pulmonary lung disease increases by 390%; hepatitis, 240%; depression, 460%; and attempted suicide, 1,220%.

Why take the ACE test?

Understanding ourselves as adults often means revisiting our childhoods. When you take your ACE test, it helps you do that. The ACE test asks 10 questions, and at the end we will provide you with your score and information on what it may mean for you.

How many people have ACEs?

Almost two-thirds of adults surveyed reported at least one Adverse Childhood Experience – and the majority of respondents who took the test had more than one.