Measuring What Matters: Development of the TRACE Measure (Trauma, Resilience and Adversity in Cultural Experiences)

PurposeThe Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) framework has been instrumental in understanding the long-term effects of childhood adversity but has been critiqued for its limited attention to cultural context and resilience. This study introduces and pilots the TRACE measure (Trauma, Resilience, and Adversity in Cultural Experiences), a culturally informed extension of ACE that integrates traditional adversity indicators, culturally specific adversities, and resilience factors within a single framework. The purpose of this study was to examine the preliminary psychometric properties and structural validity of the TRACE measure.MethodsThe TRACE measure was administered to parents (N = 122) of kindergarten students participating in a longitudinal literacy project across eight elementary schools. The instrument included three domains: traditional ACE items, culturally informed ACE (C-ACE) items, and culturally informed resilience (C-Resilience) items. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) using weighted least squares estimation (WLSMV) were conducted to evaluate dimensionality and model fit. Competing models, including correlated factors and bifactor structures, were compared. Reliability was assessed using coefficient omega (ω).ResultsItem-level CFAs demonstrated good model fit and strong reliability for both ACE (ω = .95) and C-ACE (ω = .93) domains, with acceptable reliability for C-Resilience (ω = .78). The correlated factors model showed poor fit, whereas bifactor models demonstrated improved fit, supporting a general adversity factor (G-ACE) alongside domain-specific factors. The general factor accounted for approximately 55%–59% of the common variance among adversity indicators. A moderate inverse relationship between adversity and resilience was observed (r ≈ −.50), indicating that these constructs remain distinct.ConclusionsFindings provide support for the TRACE measure as a psychometrically viable and conceptually meaningful extension of the ACE framework. By integrating culturally informed adversity and resilience within a single instrument, TRACE offers a more comprehensive and contextual approach to assessing childhood experiences. This framework has implications for research, practice, and policy by supporting more culturally responsive and asset-based approaches to understanding and addressing childhood adversity.