Adverse childhood experiences check (ACE)
Answer about the years before your 18th birthday. For each question, count it if it happened during those years.
This check uses the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) questionnaire from the CDC–Kaiser Permanente ACE Study. It counts 10 types of adversity a person may have experienced before age 18 — abuse, neglect, and household challenges. It is a count of experiences, not a test of damage.
Your answers stay on this device — nothing is sent or saved anywhere.
DocSana self-checks are for information only. They are screening tools, not diagnoses: only a licensed clinician can diagnose a mental health condition. Your answers are scored in your browser and are never sent to or stored by DocSana. We count visits to these pages with privacy-friendly analytics that use no cookies and never receive your answers or results. There is no advertising tracking on self-check pages. If you're in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911 if you're in immediate danger.
Common questions
What is an ACE score?
An ACE score counts how many of 10 types of adverse childhood experiences — abuse, neglect, and household challenges — a person had before age 18. It comes from the CDC–Kaiser Permanente ACE Study, one of the largest studies of how childhood experiences affect adult health.
Is a high ACE score a life sentence?
No. The ACE score describes groups in statistics, not any one person’s future. It doesn’t measure the protective people, strengths, and support in a child’s life — and those matter enormously. Many people with high counts live healthy lives.
Is this a diagnosis?
No. It isn’t a medical or mental health condition at all — it’s a count of experiences. It can’t diagnose PTSD or anything else.
What can I do with this information?
Some people simply understand themselves better. Others share it with a therapist or doctor as a starting point — a trauma-informed clinician will know how to work with it. There is no score that requires action and no score that rules out support.
Who created the ACE questionnaire?
The ACE Study investigators at the CDC and Kaiser Permanente (Felitti, Anda, and colleagues, 1998). The questionnaire is in the public domain.
The ACE questionnaire comes from the CDC–Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study (Felitti et al., 1998). Public domain.
Related checks
Clinical review pending This page was written by the DocSana team and is awaiting review by a licensed clinician.