Handbook of Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Framework for Collaborative Health Promotion

This handbook explores ways to unify the study and application of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) across multiple fields and disciplines, including clinical child and adolescent psychology, school psychology, pediatrics, social work, public health, education, and other health and human services. The book outlines a cohesive framework that organizes critical ACEs concepts throughout individual chapters, highlighting key issues and themes across settings and disciplines as well as gaps in current knowledge. Chapters examine interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to ACEs and their impact on health and well-being within a specific topic area or setting. In addition, chapters review the foundations and development of the relevant science and provide examples of ACEs research and intervention applications as well as suggestions for continued advancement in this field.

 Key areas of coverage include:

Definition and measurement of ACEs.
• Theory and models guiding ACEs research and practice.
Applications of ACEs science across settings, including healthcare, mental and behavioral health, schools, justice system, and child welfare system.
• Applications of ACEs to public health and policy issues.
• Prevention strategies and policy approaches to ACEs.

Handbook of Adverse Childhood Experiences is an essential resource for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as clinicians and related mental health and medical therapists and professionals in developmental and clinical child and adolescent psychology, school psychology, child and adolescent psychiatry, social work, child and family studies, public health, pediatrics, and all interrelated disciplines.

Sharon G. Portwood, J.D., Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Public Health Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Portwood received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, and after more than 10 years as a practicing trial attorney, received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Virginia. Her research reflects an integration of her training and practice in law, developmental psychology, and community psychology applied to a broad spectrum of issues involving health and human services policy and practice, particularly as they impact children, youth, and families. Dr. Portwood has authored numerous journal articles and book chapters covering a wide range of topics, including the prevention of child maltreatment and youth and family violence, children’s mental health, and effective community collaboration. She is co-author of the legal textbook, Scientific Evidence in Civil and Criminal Cases (5^th ed.). Dr. Portwood has presented her work both nationally and internationally and has consulted with numerous government and not-for-profit agencies in regard to needs assessment and program development, implementation, and evaluation. From 2002 to 2005, Dr. Portwood served as Program Director and Principal Investigator for the KC Metro Child Traumatic Stress Program, a collaborative network of more than 100 community-based agencies, which was funded by SAMHSA as part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. From 2005 to 2012, she served as the first Executive Director of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte Institute for Social Capital, Inc., which was created to serve as a link between government and nonprofit agencies and university researchers, with the broader goal of fostering research and data-based community decision making through data sharing and integration. Dr. Portwood is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA); Past-President of APA’s Section on Child Maltreatment; Past-President of APA Division 37, the Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice; and Past Chair of APA’s Committee on Children, Youth, and Families.