Reflections around the research field of adverse experiences lived during childhood (Adverse Childhood Experiences [ACEs])-Towards a conceptual clarification

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been consistently linked with negative physical and mental health outcomes in adulthood. Despite decades of research dedicated this phenomenon, certain inconsistency exists in the literature regarding how ACEs are conceptually defined. This lack of clarification can impact study outcomes, not only in terms of the range of adversities to be considered and parameters to account for (i.e., severity, temporality, duration), but also with regard to the nature of dysfunctions that result from ACEs. Beyond impacting our overall understanding of what adverse experiences encompass, this obscurity concerning their operational definition complicates how they are assessed, the process of collecting data based on homogeneous criteria and ultimately can hinder effective prevention. Indeed, any meaningful advancement towards treating illness associated with ACEs will require more rigorous definition of ACEs to better understand how they manifest and their specific impact on health outcomes. Our objective in this article is to propose a comprehensive inventory of existing definitions of adversity with a view to clarifying this concept. Within the framework of that objective, we focused on two principal axes: the context of the emerging work on ACEs and the critical question of how ACEs are conceptually defined. (c) 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.