Jane,
Just my experience here in MN talking about the original 10 ACES and discussing our experiences in class and the many collaborative groups I am involved in. I have had many-including myself, have 1 ACE and divorce or separation of a parent be it, although certainly no research to back that up; strictly antidotal. I do see your point, although the ACE study didn't really delve into collateral contact regarding the test taker's own answer to the 10 questions. So part of the study I guess really is the test taker's perception as to what they were or were not exposed to as a child. Kind of brings a whole new aspect to the study! Like, do those of us who truly believe our parent's divorce was NOT based on drug or alcohol use, depression or mental illness, or domestic violence deluding ourselves? Do we truly have multiple ACES and bury it? Or is it a form of resiliency that we don't or didn't observe those issues? More to think about.
In MN, a group I work with Strengthening Families Affected by Incarceration were able to get 2 questions added to our MN Student Survey, which is given to almost every student in the state, unless they opt out, that asks numerous questions, many related to ACES and also poses questions that are suppose to measure "well being" factors. Anyway, we had the question of "Do you now have a parent or guardian incarcerated?" and "in the past, have you had a parent or guardian incarcerated" and used that information to measure school consecutiveness, mental health and chemical health. There are info graphs on our website done by Wilder research, who were a partner in the project. www.familiesaffectedbyincarceration.org
Anyway, this is where my perception that incarceration of a family member generally comes with multiple yes answers in the ACE questions.
Thank you for giving me even more to think about!!
Lori