The Invalidating Childhood Environment Scale (ICES) is a “ retrospective self-report measure of parental invalidating behaviors up to age 18 years” (Lee et al. 2023). It is a highly validated and consistent Likert scale where children assess the invalidating parental behaviors from one (never) to five (all of the time). Examples include items like "My [father or mother] would tell me I was overreacting when I was upset" and "My [father or mother] would get angry if I expressed negative feelings" (Lee et al. 2023). These examples demonstrate that an invalidating environment consists of dismissing the emotions of the child, making it even more difficult for said child to regulate their emotions.