ABSTRACT
Research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has delineated 10 types of childhood adversity, subsumed under three main categories (i.e., abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction), strongly associated with a range of negative impacts on health and well-being. Pathological forms of dissociation (i.e., dissociative symptomology and disorders) typically develop in response to overwhelming and chronic distress, and are associated with exposure to childhood abuse, neglect, and severe forms of household dysfunction. Empirical research and clinical studies have brought childhood adversity into central focus for the study and treatment of trauma-related and dissociative symptomology; however, the specific study of ACEs and their relationship to distress-related dissociation is still in its initial stages. This chapter describes how ACEs can increase the risk of distress-related dissociation via a) various forms of traumatic and developmental stress, b) negative repercussions on attachment dynamics during development, c) chronic experiences of threat and deprivation, and d) increased risk of performance and skills deficits in various domains of functioning. A conceptual framework is presented to explain the primary role of ACEs in contributing to the development of dissociative symptomology and disorders.
