The Philadelphia ACE Project Urban Aces

Much knowledge of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) relies on data predominantly collected from white, middle- / upper-middle-class participants and focuses on experiences within the home. During the initial convening’s of the Philadelphia ACE Project, members wondered if living in an urban area might bring particular stresses not covered in the original ACE study. In 2012 and 2013, members came together to develop the Philadelphia Expanded ACE Study to understand the impact of community-level adversities. In conjunction with the Public Health Management Corporation’s Household Health Survey, researchers surveyed 1,784 adult participants in Philadelphia about the original ACEs and five additional community-level stressors. Using a more socioeconomically and racially diverse urban population, Conventional (household) and Expanded (community-level) ACEs were measured to help understand whether Conventional ACEs alone can sufficiently measure adversity, particularly among various subgroups.