It can be difficult for some people to understand and acknowledge the emotional scars that childhood trauma may have left them.
But according to Dr. Pete, a renowned TikTok pediatrician, recognizing and addressing these issues can start with taking a 10-step quiz.
He says that taking the test, known as the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Score, can be a critical step toward healing and recovery.
Note: always seek your own medical advice.
forms of childhood trauma
Taking to TikTok, Dr. Pete posted the now-viral clip and it has racked up more than 7.3 million views so far.
“I’m going to ask you 10 questions about your childhood and your answers will reveal how traumatic your childhood was,” he begins.
She then instructs viewers to “think about her childhood up to her 18th birthday” upon completing the test.
If you answer ‘yes’ to a question, you get one point.
Question number one is: “Did any parent or other adult in your household often or very often curse at you, insult you, belittle you, or put you down, or act in a way that made you fear that you might physically hurt yourself?”
The next question is: “Did you often or very often feel that no one in your family loved you or thought you were important or special or that your family didn’t care about you, didn’t feel close to each other, or didn’t support each other? ? ”
“Did you often feel like you didn’t have enough to eat, that you had to wear dirty clothes, that you had no one to protect you, or that your parents were too drunk or high to take care of you?” is next
The fourth question asks: “Have your parents ever separated or divorced?”
The fifth question is: “Was a household member depressed or mentally ill, or a household member attempted suicide?”
Question six is: “Did you live with anyone who had a drinking or alcohol problem or used street drugs?”
“Did any of your parents or another adult in your household push, grab, slap, or throw anything often or very often, or hit you so hard that it left marks or injured you?” says the seventh question.
Then the next one is: “Has an adult or person at least five years older than you ever touched or fondled you or did you touch your body in a sexual way or attempt to have sex with you?”
The penultimate question is: “Was your mother/father/stepparent frequently or very often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or thrown, kicked, bitten, or hit, or repeatedly threatened you?”
Then finally, “Did a household member go to prison?”
“Many are beyond the control of a child”
Dr. Pete explains that if you scored 0, it likely doesn’t have any negative effects from your childhood.
If you rolled a one-three, it has minimal effects.
And if you scored a four or higher, that’s when there may be more serious consequences for your health.
In a follow-up video, he explains exactly what those consequences are and his statistical probability of experiencing them, but seek your own medical advice if you are seeking a diagnosis.
She adds that it’s important to note that many of these factors that contribute to childhood trauma are “external to a child, things they can’t control but have internalized.”
“So important to take care of our children”
These things can still affect people during their childhood, adolescence, and adult life.
“That is why it is so important to take care of our children during their formative years, because they are not always in control of their lives.
“That is why we all have to work together to create a world and policies to protect children and prevent abuse of them and their environment so that they can have fruitful lives and we can alter their trajectory and the people they interact with and of course, the future.”