Adverse Childhood Experience International Questionnaire – Mexican Spanish Version

Abstract

The Adverse Childhood Experience International Questionnaire–Mexican Spanish Version (ACE-IQ-MSV), developed by Casas-Muñoz et al. (2024), is a crucial psychometric instrument designed to measure the prevalence and impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) among low- and middle-income adolescents in Mexico. This 47-item inventory is an adaptation of the original WHO’s ACE-IQ, tailored specifically to capture culturally relevant experiences of family dysfunction, abuse, neglect, and exposure to community and collective violence within the Mexican context. Validated across 20 Mexican states, the scale demonstrates strong evidence of both reliability and Construct Validity.

The scale’s development involved rigorous psychometric testing, utilizing both ordinal alpha and ordinal omega for reliability assessment, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to verify its underlying structure. The ACE-IQ-MSV is administered electronically, making it a highly practical tool for large-scale epidemiological studies focused on understanding childhood adversity and its long-term consequences in youth mental health.

Keywords

Adolescents, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Mexican Spanish Version, Childhood Adversity, Youth Mental Health, Psychological Assessment, Violence Exposure, Family Dysfunction.

Authors

Casas-Muñoz, Abigail, Velasco-Rojano, Ángel Eduardo, Rodríguez-Caballero, Aarón, Prado-Solé, Eva, Álvarez, Martín G.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the ACE-IQ-MSV is to systematically evaluate the frequency and severity of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and analyze their resulting consequences among adolescents belonging to low- and middle-income demographics in the Mexican population. This instrument is intended for research and public health applications.

By providing a standardized measure of exposure to various forms of adversity—including household dysfunction, interpersonal violence, and neglect—the instrument serves as a critical tool for researchers and clinicians seeking to understand the etiology of poor mental and physical health outcomes in youth and to inform evidence-based intervention strategies.

Construct

The scale measures Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). This broad construct encompasses potentially traumatic events that occur before the age of 18, which are widely associated with long-term negative health and social outcomes. The ACE-IQ-MSV operationalizes this construct through nine core domains of adversity particularly relevant to the cultural and socioeconomic context of Mexican youth.

The instrument’s focus goes beyond traditional measures by including specific items related to collective and community violence exposure, reflecting the environmental challenges faced by the target population. It provides a comprehensive measure of cumulative adversity, which is a stronger predictor of negative health outcomes than exposure to a single adverse event.

Validity

The Construct Validity of the ACE-IQ-MSV was rigorously established using advanced psychometric methods, specifically Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The results indicated a good model fit for the hypothesized factor structure, meeting established standards for structural equation modeling.

Key fit indices supporting the scale’s validity included a Comparative Fit Index (CFI) greater than 0.95, a Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) less than or equal to 0.08, and a Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) also less than or equal to 0.08. These metrics collectively affirm that the scale accurately measures the intended latent construct of Adverse Childhood Experiences within the Mexican adolescent population.

Reliability

The reliability of the ACE-IQ-MSV was assessed through measures of Internal Consistency, demonstrating high fidelity across the 47 items. Given the ordinal nature of many of the response options, ordinal alpha and ordinal omega coefficients were utilized to provide more accurate estimates than traditional Cronbach’s alpha.

The scale achieved an ordinal alpha coefficient of 0.88 and an ordinal omega coefficient of 0.91. These values exceed the conventional threshold for acceptable reliability in social science research, confirming the stability and consistency of the scale in measuring the underlying construct across the diverse sample of Mexican adolescents.

Factor Analysis

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed to test the structural model underlying the Mexican adaptation of the ACE-IQ. The analysis sought to confirm the hypothesized factor structure corresponding to the nine domains of adversity included in the extended version of the questionnaire.

The CFA results indicated an excellent model fit: χ² (666) = 4187.65, p < .01; CFI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.03 (95% CI 0.02–0.03); and SRMR = 0.06. These highly favorable fit indices validate the internal structure of the 47-item questionnaire, confirming that the scale is psychometrically sound and suitable for measuring distinct yet correlated dimensions of childhood adversity in this population.

Instrument

Test Type: Adapted Inventory/Questionnaire (Adapted from the WHO’s ACE-IQ)

Format: The 47 items utilize mixed response formats. Items concerning family dysfunction were designed as dichotomous (yes/no) responses. The remaining items employ a frequency scale (many times, few times, once, never) and, critically, include an ethical option, “I don’t want to answer,” to minimize distress and non-response bias.

Language Available: Mexican Spanish

Population Group: Human; Male; Female

Age Group: Childhood (0–12 yrs); School Age (6–12 yrs); Adolescence (13–17 yrs); Young Adulthood (18–29 yrs). The primary validation sample focused on adolescents aged 11–19.

Population Details: Adolescents aged 11–19 residing in Mexico, specifically targeting individuals from low- and middle-income backgrounds. The validation sample was drawn from 20 different states, ensuring broad geographical representation.

Test Methodology: The administration method is Electronic, which allows for efficient and standardized data collection across diverse geographical regions and facilitates the processing of responses for the 47 items.

Keywords

Adolescents, Childhood Adversity, Mexican Spanish Version, ACE-IQ, Psychometrics, Low-Income Youth, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Internal Consistency.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Velasco-Rojano, Ángel Eduardo ([email protected])

Correspondence Address: Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, 1er Torre de investigación, Centro de Estudios Avanzados sobre Violencia-Prevención (CEAVI-P), Ciudad de México, Mexico, C.P. 04530, [email protected]. Affiliations include Centro de Estudios Avanzados sobre Violencia-Prevención (CEAVI-P), Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, and Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (UNICEF).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was published and validated in 2024. Information regarding specific permissions and licensing fees for commercial or large-scale academic use should be directed to the corresponding author, Ángel Eduardo Velasco-Rojano. The source content indicates that No file is available for download directly from the publication entry.

Reference’s

Casas-Muñoz, A., Velasco-Rojano, Á. E., Rodríguez-Caballero, A., Prado-Solé, E., & Álvarez, M. G. (2024). ACE-IQ extended version validation and ACE’s frequency in Mexican adolescents. Child Abuse & Neglect, 150, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106492

Items of the Adverse Childhood Experience International Questionnaire–Mexican Spanish Version

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

• Living with a household member with psychoactive substances use
• Living with a household member with a mental health problem
• Living with a household member who has been incarcerated
• Parental loss
• Parental serious illness
• Exposure to domestic, community, and collective violence
• Physical, psychological, and sexual abuse
• Neglect
• Bullying