Dr Alan Meehan When thinking about a young  person’s likelihood of experiencing ACEs,   Researchers usually think about two things.  So, they usually think about risk factors,   so these are things that increase the possibility  of experiencing ACEs or their harmful effects down   the line, but they also think about protective  factors. So, these are things that might decrease   the likelihood of experiencing ACEs or their  potential harmful consequences on our health. Now, because ACEs involve a range  of different types of experiences,   there are many risk and protective factors  that might apply to different ACEs or that   may be more influential for some types  of adversity compared to others. However,   there are many factors that have been shown to be  related to multiple ACEs and by raising awareness   about these risk and protective factors, we might  provide important targets for strategies and   initiatives that seek to prevent ACEs or reduce  their prevalence across the whole population. So, what kinds of family or home circumstances  might contribute to a higher risk of ACEs or   potentially place young people at higher  risk of negative outcomes where they’ve   been exposed to adversity? Well, a big area  of risk involves families where significant   socioeconomic difficulties might be at play. For  example, low or single-income families, families   where the adults have low levels of educational  attainment, so, for example, maybe they didn’t   finish school, and families where caregivers  are experiencing high levels of economic stress. Certain caregiver behaviours that  might increase risk of ACEs, as well,   in the children, include things  like use of corporal punishment,   inconsistent discipline or also, poor  monitoring or supervision from caregivers. Finally, families that are socially  isolated and less connected to other people,   like extended family members, friends  and neighbours, may also be at high   risk of ACEs. And levels of risks may also be  heightened if they live in a community where   there are high rates of violence, there’s  crime, unemployment or unstable housing,   or residents or neighbours are less involved  on connected with their local community. Now, we know ACEs themselves act as an  important risk factor for a wide variety   of long-term problems, but we also know that not  all children who experience adversity will go on   to show those unfavourable or adverse outcomes.  And in fact, many young people appear to be what   we call resilient, in that they go on to live  relatively healthy lives, despite the adversity   they’ve experienced in the past. So, therefore,  it’s also important to think about the protective   factors that might prevent or reduce the risk  of unfavourable outcomes following ACE exposure.   And typically, when we think about or organise  these different types of protective or resilience   factors, we do it across three different  levels, based on whether they’re related   to the individual themselves, their immediate  family, or the community or wider society. So, just to start with the individual, when  we think about personal characteristics that   might be protective against developing  health problems for those with ACEs,   it includes things like high levels of  self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-regulation,   use of adaptive coping strategies, high  levels of optimism, a strong sense of   identity and self-worth and also, certain  personality characteristics, for example,   high levels of extraversion  and low levels of neuroticism. At the family level, then, potential protective  factors that have been looked at in research   include things like a stable, warm and supportive  relationship between the caregiver and child,   high levels of parental monitoring  and supervision and just general,   kind of, involvement and engagement in the  child’s daily life. And also, social support   from other family members, both within and  outside the, kind of, immediate household. Finally, in terms of the wider community, factors  that appear to be related to resilience include   things like social support from non-family  members, a sense of what’s known as social   cohesion in the neighbourhood or the community,  and also, available – availability of support   resources and services in the community.  So, availability of, kind of, childcare,   medical and Police services. Other things,  also, beyond the, kind of, immediate household,   include things like a positive attitude  towards school and support from peers   and friends and participation in things like  sports and other extracurricular activities. So, overall, for those who’ve already experienced  ACEs during childhood, raising awareness about   these resilience factors that I’ve just mentioned  could be particularly important in supporting the   development of interventions that could reduce or  mitigate the most harmful consequences of ACEs,   whether that’s within clinical or mental  health services or other frontline settings.