Adverse Childhood Experiences in Minnesota Executive Summary

This report marks the first time that the Minnesota Department of Health has collected data regarding the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on the lifelong health and well-being of adults in Minnesota. For two decades, research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other states has demonstrated over and over again the powerful impact of ACEs on health, behavioral, and social problems. An extensive and growing body of research documents that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)— those causing toxic levels of stress or trauma before age 18—are specifically linked to poor physical and mental health, chronic disease, lower educational achievement, lower economic success, and impaired social success in adulthood.