Worksheet #7 — Childhood Stress Calibration Tool

Do you think you may have had a too stressful childhood? If you answer yes to any of the questions below, you may have. (If you were not raised by your parents, simply use “parents” to mean “the people who raised me.”)

For a formal review of the ACE study and questionnaire, on which I base this work sheet, see the ACE Study pages at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web sites (www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/) and a condensed questionnaire and discussion at http://acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score/.

One or both of my parents was an alcoholic or a drug addict when I was a child.

Yes
No

An outside observer might say that I was frequently hit by a parent when I was a child.

Yes
No

An outside observer might say I was sexually abused when I was a child.

Yes
No

An outside observer might say that I was emotionally abused when I was a child.

Yes
No

One or both of my parents was chronically ill or died when I was a child.

Yes
No

One or both of my parents was wildly unpredictable when I was a child, and not always in a good way.

Yes
No

I was chronically ill when I was a child.

Yes
No

My parents divorced when I was less than seven years old.

Yes
No

My family or I moved more than five times before I was seven.

Yes
No

I witnessed physical violence in my home when I was a child.

Yes
No

The question may not be, “What’s wrong with you?” It may be: “What did you go through?”

Worksheet #7 — Childhood Stress Calibration ToolFrom Chapter 10 — Look for the Force of Things

Worksheet #7 — Childhood Stress Calibration Tool

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