title: Improving the adverse childhood experiences study scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test and improve upon the list of adverse childhood experiences from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study scale by examining the ability of a broader range to correlate with mental health symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nationally representative sample of children and adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 2030 youth aged 10 to 17 years who were asked about lifetime adversities and current distress symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Lifetime adversities and current distress symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The adversities from the original ACE scale items were associated with mental health symptoms among the participants, but the association was significantly improved (from R2 = 0.21 to R2 = 0.34) by removing some of the original ACE scale items and adding others in the domains of peer rejection, peer victimization, community violence exposure, school performance, and socioeconomic status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our understanding of the most harmful childhood adversities is still incomplete because of complex interrelationships among them, but we know enough to proceed to interventional studies to determine whether prevention and remediation can improve long-term outcomes.
authors: Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA. david.finkelhor@unh.edu
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Finkelhor
authors: Anne
authors: A
authors: Shattuck
authors: Heather
authors: H
authors: Turner
authors: Sherry
authors: S
authors: Hamby
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000786:Anger; D001007:Anxiety; D058445:Bullying; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019548:Crime Victims; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D010379:Peer Group; D011203:Poverty; D057566:Self Report; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014481:United States; D014754:Violence