ACE Survey among Individuals with a History of National Guard Service

The study is based on previous studies regarding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) among veterans and military service members, with an emphasis on mental health outcomes in the National Guard community. Military service can induce levels of stress that can require a high level of resilience and strong coping skills. As American service members deploy for prolonged periods on a recurrent basis, their ability to cope with the stress of deployment may be more difficult. Long term deployments, combat exposure, and stressful working conditions can have lasting effects on both the body and mind. The impacts of these factors are magnified on the National Guard community since its members may live far from a military treatment facility, have limited healthcare coverage through the Veterans Administration (VA), and lack similar social support systems that Active Duty (AD) service members can maintain. Negative life events that take place prior to joining can influence an individual’s ability to cope or struggle through adversity. Learning more about negative life events or ACEs and their effects on service members is a task at the core of building a more ready and able force. Certain ACEs carry greater risk than others. Determining which combinations are most harmful will help with suicide/self-harm prevention and help to build a more resilient force