The Adverse Childhood Experiences - International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ) in Italy: preliminary data on one thousand community adults

In 2011 the World Health Organization (WHO) released the Adverse Childhood Experiences International Qestionnaire (ACE-IQ), aiming to assess the occurrence of a wide range of potential adversities occurring within the household (i.e., neglect, maltreatment, abuse, household dysfunctions) or outside (i.e., bullying, community violence, or collective violence), encouraging worldwide translation and research on the ACEIQ. This study aimed to report descriptive results of pilot employment of the Italian translation of the ACEIQ, authorized by the WHO. "e Italian ACE-IQ was administered to 1000 Ligurian communities (50% males) aged 18-90 years old (M = 42, SD = 17.59) in four groups of age (18-29, 30-45, 46-65, 65+). Overall, 97% of the sample experienced at least one ACE in their life (M = 4.57, SD = 2.33). Prevalence rates revealed emotional neglect (80%) and abuse (58%) as the most occurrent ACEs within the household, and community violence (53%) outside. Gender and age group predicted 15% more of total ACEs occurrence, and gender and age also show different independent or interactive predicting e#ects on speci$c ACEs. Detailed results are presented, highlighting implications for practitioners, e.g., a potential underestimation of ACEs in the community