The most detailed free childhood trauma screen on the web. Modelled on the validated CTQ (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) framework. Per-dimension breakdown across emotional/physical/sexual abuse and emotional/physical neglect.
Questions
15 items
Framework
CTQ (1998)
Time
3–5 min
Privacy
100% local
As a child, people in my family said hurtful or insulting things to me.
From the ACE Study, CDC, and contemporary childhood-adversity research.
~67%
US adults with ≥1 ACE
CDC ACE Study
~12%
Adults with 4+ ACEs (severe)
Felitti et al.
1998
CTQ first validated
Bernstein & Fink
2-5 yrs
Typical complex-trauma healing arc
Clinical literature
Methodology & sources
Each dimension produces distinct adult patterns. The combination — your specific childhood profile — matters for therapeutic direction.
Insults, humiliation, shaming, verbal cruelty
Verbal assaults on a child's worth or wellbeing, including being called names, told you were worthless or unwanted, or systematically humiliated by family members. Often invisible to outsiders but produces deep adult patterns around shame, self-worth, and the internalised critical voice.
Bodily harm, hitting, beating, physical punishment
Bodily attacks by a family member resulting in marks, injuries, or fear of injury. Includes punishment with belts, sticks, or other objects, and being hit hard enough to require medical attention. The most legally recognised form of childhood abuse.
Sexual contact or exposure as a child
Any sexual contact, attempted contact, or exposure to sexual material before the age of consent. Often associated with the deepest adult sequelae — including PTSD, dissociation, sexual difficulties, and attachment patterns. Often goes unreported and unaddressed for decades.
Absence of emotional care, attunement, love
The absence of attuned emotional care — a child's emotional needs systematically not noticed, not met, not validated. Often the most invisible form of childhood adversity because nothing 'bad' happened — but the absence of good attunement produces deep adult patterns. Jonice Webb's 'Running on Empty' is the foundational text.
Inadequate food, clothing, shelter, supervision
Failure to provide for the child's basic physical needs — adequate food, clean clothes, appropriate shelter, adult supervision. Often accompanies emotional neglect; often associated with parental substance use, severe mental illness, or extreme poverty.
The ACE Study (Felitti et al., 1998) was the first large-scale demonstration of the dose-response relationship between childhood adversity and adult outcomes. Subsequent research has confirmed and extended these findings across decades.
Mental health
Physical health
Even severe childhood trauma is treatable. The right therapeutic approach combined with sustained time produces substantial healing.
The most important finding
Evidence-based approaches
Supporting practices
Curated starting points if you want to go deeper than this page.
The Body Keeps the Score
Bessel van der Kolk
The foundational modern text on trauma, including extensive coverage of childhood trauma. Required reading.
Running on Empty
Jonice Webb
The definitive book on childhood emotional neglect — often the most invisible and most common form of childhood adversity.
Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving
Pete Walker
Walker's practical guide for adults with complex childhood trauma. Self-directed work alongside therapy.
The Drama of the Gifted Child
Alice Miller
Foundational text on childhood emotional adversity and adult consequences.
Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein & Fink, 1998)↗
The original validated 28-item childhood trauma screen this test is modelled on.
EMDR International Association — therapist directory↗
Search for EMDR-trained therapists for childhood trauma processing.
If you're in crisis
Childhood trauma refers to experiences of abuse, neglect, or other adversity during childhood that overwhelm the child's developmental capacity to cope. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) framework identifies 5 distinct dimensions: emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect. Childhood trauma is extremely common — about two-thirds of US adults report at least one significant adverse childhood experience, and roughly 12% report severe childhood adversity across multiple dimensions. The impact extends well beyond the childhood years; research consistently links childhood trauma to elevated risk for adult mental health conditions, physical health conditions, and relational difficulties. The good news is that the impact is also treatable — even severe childhood trauma is healable with sustained trauma-focused therapy.
The CTQ (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) is the most widely used self-report childhood-trauma screening tool, developed by David Bernstein and Laura Fink in 1998. The full version (CTQ-LF) has 70 items; the short form (CTQ-SF) has 28 items covering the 5 dimensions. It has strong psychometric properties and is the standard instrument in childhood-trauma research worldwide. The Mindshape childhood trauma test is modelled on the CTQ structure — 15 items across the 5 dimensions — adapted for online self-reflection. For formal clinical use, the validated CTQ-SF should be administered.
Childhood trauma produces measurable and well-documented effects in adulthood across multiple domains. Mental health: elevated rates of PTSD, complex PTSD, depression, anxiety, borderline patterns, substance use, eating disorders. Physical health: the ACE Study and subsequent research show dose-response relationships between childhood adversity and adult heart disease, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, COPD, and many cancers. Relationships: childhood trauma strongly predicts insecure attachment patterns, difficulty with intimacy, and challenges with self-trust and trust in others. The effects are real and substantial — but they are also significantly modifiable with appropriate therapy. Many adults with severe childhood trauma develop earned-secure attachment, complete trauma processing, and live lives with very different quality than their childhood would have predicted.
Both measure childhood adversity but differ in framing. The CTQ (this test) measures the intensity and frequency of specific trauma types across 5 dimensions, producing a continuous score per dimension. The ACE score (Felitti et al., 1998) is a binary 10-item count of specific adverse experiences (any/none for each) — it's simpler and broader, including household dysfunction beyond direct abuse. Both are useful. The ACE score is better for population-level epidemiology and quick screening; the CTQ provides more nuanced clinical information about the specific patterns to address in therapy. We have separate pages for each.
The most evidence-based approaches for adult treatment of childhood trauma are: EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing — Shapiro), IFS (Internal Family Systems — Schwartz), sensorimotor psychotherapy (Pat Ogden's body-based approach), schema therapy (Jeffrey Young — specifically designed for childhood-origin patterns), and trauma-focused CBT. For complex/sustained childhood trauma, longer-term work (often 2-5 years) is typically needed. The therapeutic relationship itself often becomes the corrective attachment experience that childhood didn't provide. Generic talk therapy is often the wrong tool — look specifically for clinicians with explicit trauma training, ideally trained in EMDR or IFS or schema therapy.
Yes — extensively and increasingly well-documented. The neuroplasticity research of the past 20 years has fundamentally changed the picture: the brain remains modifiable across the lifespan, and trauma networks can be substantially reprocessed even decades after the original events. Many adults with severe childhood trauma report substantially different quality of life after 2-5 years of sustained trauma-focused therapy. The arc is real even when slow. The most important predictor of healing is access to a skilled trauma therapist combined with sufficient time — both of which are within reach for most adults willing to invest in the work.
The Mindshape childhood trauma test takes most people 3-5 minutes. It is 15 items on a 5-point scale, asking about your childhood. Results appear instantly with a per-dimension breakdown across the 5 CTQ dimensions.