Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood. Many kids have experienced neglect, abuse, and violence, or witnessed disputes in society and at home. Children exposed to maltreatment and other ACEs are at increased risk for various negative adult health outcomes, including substance abuse and depression (Finkelhor, 2018). Moreover, ACEs have been considered both remote and proximal mitigation due to various aspects. One of the reasons why they can be regarded as proximal mitigation is because they involve multiple internal issues that a child experiences. For instance, domestic violence and child abuse are factors that show that ACEs can be considered proximal mitigation. Moreover, limiting ACEs can be achieved by encouraging people to avoid these internal behaviors. Policies to ensure that ACEs have also been introduced to focus on these internal aspects, for instance, by controlling that parents or caregivers do not abuse their children. Therefore, ACEs have been considered proximal mitigation since some of the issues involved are internal and close to the child.
The reason why one can consider ACEs remote mitigation is due to the external factors involved. Some issues such as racial-based discrimination are external problems that kids experience. Additionally, some children are bullied at school and in the community, which impacts their behaviors and health (Finkelhor, 2018). The world is diverse, and people have different cultures and origins. Nonetheless, some children have been discriminated against by their peers based on their backgrounds, beliefs, and religion. Thus, these external issues show that ACEs can be considered remote mitigation. In essence, exposure to ACEs is strongly associated with externalizing and internalizing behaviors, which enables one to consider them both remote and proximal mitigation.
Reference
Finkelhor, D. (2018). Screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs): Cautions and suggestions. Child Abuse & Neglect, 85(1), 174-179. Web.