Free ACE Quiz: Childhood Experiences & Health

Please Don’t Be Fine

Your childhood didn’t stay in your childhood.

Some of the hardest things we carry started before we were old enough to name them. Your ACE score can help you understand how those early years may still be showing up in your body today.

10 questions
A few minutes
100% private
Free

Start the quiz

What grows above starts with what’s underneath.

What researchers found

Heart disease

Adults with 4 or more ACEs were about twice as likely to have it.

1.9x

Cancer

Adults with 4 or more ACEs were nearly twice as likely to have had cancer.

Up to 2x

Autoimmune disease

Adults with 2 or more ACEs were 70% to 100% more likely to be hospitalized for one.

About 2 out of 3 adults have at least one ACE. You are not alone.

Sources: Felitti et al., 1998; Dube et al., 2009. Higher risk is not a sure thing.

Your answers stay private. Your score adds up right on your screen. Nothing you check is saved, sent, or seen by anyone, including me.

Content note: These questions ask about childhood abuse, neglect, and other painful experiences. Take your time. You can stop at any point.

The ACE questionnaire

ACE stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences. These are hard things that happen before age 18. This is the same questionnaire many doctors in California use.

Check each one that you experienced before your 18th birthday.

1.Did you feel that you didn’t have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, or had no one to protect or take care of you?
2.Did you lose a parent through divorce, abandonment, death, or other reason?
3.Did you live with anyone who was depressed, mentally ill, or attempted suicide?
4.Did you live with anyone who had a problem with drinking or using drugs, including prescription drugs?
5.Did your parents or adults in your home ever hit, punch, beat, or threaten to harm each other?
6.Did you live with anyone who went to jail or prison?
7.Did a parent or adult in your home ever swear at you, insult you, or put you down?
8.Did a parent or adult in your home ever hit, beat, kick, or physically hurt you in any way?
9.Did you feel that no one in your family loved you or thought you were special?
10.Did you experience unwanted sexual contact (such as fondling or oral/anal/vaginal intercourse/penetration)?

Your ACE score

out of 10

Your ACE score is the total number of checked responses.

Check any that apply above. Your results will show up here.

What the research says about a score of 0

In the ACE research, people with a score of 0 were the comparison group. That’s good news.

But this questionnaire only asks about 10 kinds of hard experiences. It leaves out many others, like bullying, racism, poverty, losing someone close, or living through a disaster. If something hard happened to you that isn’t on this list, your story still counts, and your body may still be carrying it.

What the research says about a score of 1

The original ACE study found that health risks tended to rise step by step as ACE scores went up. The biggest differences showed up at higher scores.

One hard experience can still leave a mark, especially if no one helped you through it. Safe, steady relationships, rest, and support for what happened all help your body settle. If anything here feels familiar, talking with a trauma therapist can help.

What the research says about a score of 2 or 3

Researchers have found that health risks tend to rise with each ACE.

70% to 100%more likely to be hospitalized for an autoimmune disease, like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, for adults with 2 or more ACEs

About 20%higher autoimmune risk for women with each added ACE

These numbers compare large groups of people with no ACEs. They can’t predict what will happen to you.

What helps: safe, steady relationships, calming your body, and getting support for what happened. You don’t have to wait until you’re falling apart.

What the research says about a score of 4 or more

In the original ACE study, adults with 4 or more ACEs, compared with adults who had none, were:

About 2xas likely to have heart disease

1.9xas likely to have had cancer

70% to 100%more likely to be hospitalized for an autoimmune disease (2 or more ACEs)

Please hear this: risk is not destiny.

These numbers describe large groups of people, not you personally. Your score can’t predict what will happen to you. And none of this is your fault.

What can help: Share your score with your doctor so they can see the whole picture of your health. And get support for what’s underneath. Trauma therapy can help your mind and body learn that you are safe now.

If seeing this number feels heavy, be gentle with yourself. If you need to talk to someone right now, call or text 988.

Book a free 15-minute consult

This describes what researchers found in large groups of people. It can’t predict your health, and it isn’t medical advice.

Do you believe that these experiences have affected your health?

Not Much Some A Lot

What your score means (and what it doesn’t)

First, take a breath. Whatever your number is, it doesn’t define you. Experiences in childhood are just one part of a person’s life story.

ACEs are common. In the original ACE study, about two out of three adults had at least one.
Your score is information, not a diagnosis. It can’t tell you what will happen to you. It only counts some of what you went through.
A higher score means higher risk, not a sure thing. In the original study, adults with 4 or more ACEs were about twice as likely to have heart disease and nearly twice as likely to have had cancer, compared with adults who had none. Other research has found a higher risk of autoimmune disease too.
A score of 0 doesn’t mean nothing hard happened. The questionnaire leaves out many painful experiences, like bullying, racism, poverty, or living through a disaster. Your story still matters.
None of this is your fault. You didn’t choose what happened to you. And healing is possible at any age.

Instead of “what’s wrong with me,” ask “what happened to me.”

What you can do with your score

Share it with your doctor. Many doctors in California are trained to talk with patients about ACEs. Knowing your score can help them understand your health more fully.
Notice how your body is doing. When a child grows up feeling unsafe, the body’s alarm system can stay on for years. Simple tools that calm the body can help. Learn more about how trauma affects the body.
Get support for what’s underneath. Trauma therapy can help your mind and body learn that you are safe now.

Read the series: Please Don’t Be Fine

I wrote a 4-part series based on my talk about childhood stress, chronic illness, and what actually helps the body heal.

Part 1: Please Don’t Be Fine: The Hidden Cost of Childhood Stress
Part 2: The Collision: What a Decade of “I’m Fine” Looked Like for Me
Part 3: Why Talk Therapy Wasn’t Enough for Me (and What Was)
Part 4: Permission to Not Be Fine

You don’t have to carry this alone

If your score stirred something up, that makes sense. I help women heal from childhood trauma, burnout, and the toll it takes on the body. I see clients in person in Redding and by secure video anywhere in California.

Book a free 15-minute consult

If you need help right now:

Call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline), any time.
Shasta County 24-hour mental health line: (530) 225-5252 or (888) 385-5201
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

Questionnaire: Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire for Adults, California Surgeon General’s Clinical Advisory Committee, from ACEs Aware. Research: Felitti et al., 1998; Dube et al., 2009.

Yvette Brown, Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee at Attune Center for Healing. Supervised by Christina Whitney, LMFT # 111050

This is education, not therapy. It’s not medical advice and doesn’t create a therapist-client relationship.