Shasta County ACE Study and Data

The original ACE study was conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Kaiser Permanente in the mid-1990s and surveyed over 17,000 participants. The study found a direct link between traumatic childhood events and adult health challenges. This is why experts are calling the ACE study the greatest public health issue of our time.

Shasta County ACE Study

In 2012, a local ACE Study was conducted in Shasta County through a random digit dial telephone survey of a sample of Shasta County residents between the ages of 18 and 64. Eight of the ten ACEs were included in the survey questions, all except the 2 types of neglect.

Find Your ACE Score

Identifying your ACE score can help you better understand yourself

Select "yes" or "no" to the questions below to find your ACE score - your ACE score is anonymous

Prior to your 18th birthday...

1. Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often...
Swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you?
Or
Act in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt?

2. 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?

3. Did an adult or person at least 5 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?

4. 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?

5. 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?

6. Was a biological parent ever lost to you through divorce, abandonment,
or other reason?

7. 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?

8. Did you live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic or who used
street drugs?

9. Was a household member depressed or mentally ill, or did a household member attempt
suicide?

10. Did a household member go to prison?

Your Number Story

Your ACE score does not define you. It is simply an entry point to your personal story.

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris

Former California Sugeon General

“Twenty years of medical research has shown that childhood adversity literally gets under our skin, changing people in ways that can endure in their bodies for decades.”

Number of Adverse Childhood
Experiences reported in Shasta County

No Data Found

4+ ACEs

2-3 ACEs

1 ACE

0 ACEs

Research shows that having 4 or more ACEs is often the point where it’s hard to be resilient. In Shasta County, 40% of adults said they had experienced 4 or more ACEs growing up, double the state average.

Prevalence of Adverse Childhood
Experiences in Shasta County

No Data Found

What the data tells us

No matter which ACE you look at, Shasta County’s rates are double, even triple, the state average

Resilience can help overcome trauma

See how relationships, strategies, and support can be used to counteract the negative
effects of ACEs.

What We’re Tracking in Shasta County

“Data collection and reviewing outcome measures is vital in understanding the work we are doing is impactful and improving the lives of individuals in our community.”

– Tracie Neal, SFC Data Committee member and SFC member

Want to see all the Shasta County data?