Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adult Substance Use

This study sets out to contribute to the already existing data on ACEs as well as substance use in adulthood. In this quantitative descriptive study, the researchers addressed the relationship of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adult substance use. Psychological, physical, and cognitive health issues may occur in adulthood due to ACEs (Shin et al., 2017). Being exposed to one or more ACE during childhood can cause poor coping skills and result in adult substance use (Shin et al., 2017). Bringing greater attention to the prevalence of ACEs can help social workers create more sensitive assessments, screening tools, and treatment plans to prevent re-traumatization of clients. The researchers used non-probability sampling techniques and an online survey was administered to a Zoom Alcohol Anonymous (AA) meeting and a Facebook recovery group. The collected data was analyzed using a statistical software program