Measuring early life adversity in adults: French translation and validation of the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure (MACE) scale

Abstract

In contrast to other tools used with adults to retrospectively assess exposure to early adversity, the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure (MACE) scale (Teicher & Parigger, 2015) investigates exposure to a wide range of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). It also explores the timing and duration of this exposure, which has been shown to be important in identifying developmentally sensitive periods for exposure to childhood adversity. The main goal of this study was therefore to provide a French translation of the MACE and to assess its psychometric properties. An experimental group of N = 402 French adults (Mage = 39.1 ± 10.8 years) from the general population completed the French version of the 52-item MACE scale online, along with other questionnaires. Statistical analyses show that a 50-item version reliably captures exposure to the 10 types of ACEs investigated by the scale. The MACE scale exhibits excellent convergent validity with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ; Bernstein et al., 1994, 1997), and is more effective than the CTQ in predicting psychiatric morbidities such as dissociation and anxiety. Test-retest reliability was assessed online over a period of more than 12 months in a subgroup of 50 participants. Results show adequate test-retest reliability for both composite and subscale scores. Overall, the MACE-50 (Fr) comprehensively assesses exposure to early childhood adversity in adults, has acceptable psychometric properties, and is a reliable tool both for clinical practice and research.