The Intergenerational Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences

Presents a Global, Evidence-Informed Examination of How Childhood Adversity Shapes Lives Across Generations Understanding why adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) continue to shape health and wellbeing across generations requires a comprehensive, culturally informed exploration—one that brings together historical context, lived experience, and interventions grounded in evidence. The Intergenerational Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences examines ACEs through an international lens, demonstrating both their universality and the diverse ways they manifest across societies. Edited by psychologist Richard Pates and psychophysiologist Diane Riley, this groundbreaking volume situates ACEs within centuries of reflection on childhood adversity while highlighting the recent methodological advances that allow researchers and practitioners to assess their long-term psychological and physiological consequences with greater precision. The book first traces the nature and scope of the problem, drawing on data, theory, and clinical insight to clarify how patterns of adversity repeat across generations and why they continue to challenge systems of care worldwide. Subsequent sections explore detailed accounts of lived experience from multiple countries and through discussions of intervention strategies ranging from established therapeutic approaches to emerging, experimental modalities. International contributors explore settings as varied as family homes, schools, and communities affected by conflict or displacement, as well as institutions that have caused profound harm. The first comprehensive volume to examine ACEs through an explicitly international, cross-cultural framework, The Intergenerational Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences: Presents a wide spectrum of intervention approaches, from established therapies to innovative experimental methods Integrates historical context with contemporary research to illuminate long-term and intergenerational effects Discusses how evidence-based practices can be more effectively implemented by front-line professionals Features diverse narratives offering insight beyond clinical and academic perspectives Offers crucial insights into resilience, recovery, and the role of supportive relationships Includes dedicated chapters addressing adversity in underrepresented settings and communities Illuminating not only the breadth of adversity but also the conditions that exacerbate or mitigate its impact, The Intergenerational Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences: Ripples on a Pond is invaluable for professionals and students working in psychology, social work, child development, education, public health, and related fields. Suitable for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses on childhood adversity, developmental psychopathology, trauma studies, and social determinants of health, it is also an essential reference for practitioners and policymakers engaged in addressing the consequences of ACEs.

Preface vii Contributors’ Biographies viii Part 1 Introduction to ACEs 1 1 Childhood Adversity – Intergenerational Effects 3 Diane Riley and Richard Pates 2 Inheriting Trauma: Domestic Abuse Through the Lens of ACEs 44 Amy Johnson Part 2 Experiences of ACEs 53 3 Yes, It Happened to Me!: The Lived Experience of ACEs, a Number of Stories 55 Richard Pates and Diane Riley 4 Letter to Breslau 74 Maya Lasker- Wallfisch 5 The Forgotten Generation, the War Children in Germany 82 Sabine Bode 6 Writing as Therapy for My Deep Personal Trauma 88 Alison Knight 7 The Aberfan Disaster 97 Gaynor Madgwick 8 Adverse Childhood Experiences and International Adoptions: Experiences from the Voices of Adopted Individuals 110 Diana S. Lesme Romero 9 Greek Adolescents 123 Anna Tsiboukli 10 Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mental Health: Micro and Macro Social Factors in Mexico 133 Liliana Templos- Núñez 11 Childhood Trauma and Adversity as Risk Factors for Violence 144 Jiaying Chen, Saima Ali, and Gwen Adshead 12 Indigenous People in Canada: The Role of Education Both in Creating Problems and in Alleviating Them 158 Diane Riley and Mike DeGagné Part 3 Interventions 171 13 Interventions and Treatment for the Effects of ACEs 173 Diane Riley and Richard Pates 14 Trauma and ACE- Informed Approaches: Why it’s Everyone’s Business 201 Andrew Bennett 15 Systematic Capacity Building in Child and Adolescent Clinical Care in the Czech Republic: A Case Study 213 Michal Miovský 16 A Family Affair! Fixing Adults to Break the Intergenerational Transmission of Suffering 227 Eric Breton, Elodie David, and Line Caron 17 Art Therapy: Safe (Enough) Spaces to Express Creatively What Words Can’t Say 237 Deirdre McConnell 18 Solutions: Touch Therapy and Other Therapies 250 Adam Nicholls 19 Lived-Experience Leadership in Two Trauma Services: CHIME to Thrive and Staywell Derby CIC 259 Lauren Jones Part 4 Discussion 273 20 Discussion 275 Richard Pates and Diane Riley Index 301