The economic cost

$14.1 trillion a year — the annual economic burden of childhood trauma in the United States.

$183 billion

in direct medical spending

$13.9 trillion

in the value of lost healthy life

$88,000

per affected adult, every year

$2.4 million

per affected adult, over a lifetime

That figure exceeds the entire gross domestic product of China. It is more than the United States spends on defense, education and infrastructure combined.

And every dollar invested in prevention returns an estimated $191 in avoided lifetime costs.

Peterson C et al., JAMA Network Open, 2023;6(12):e2346323.