Poster #167 - Promoting Resilience: Moderating the Relation between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Psychological Well-being

• In Event: 2-055 - Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Section - Prevention and Interventions

Integrative Statement

Researchers have extensively linked adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to negative mental health outcomes in adolescents. Associated negative mental health outcomes include depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and suicidality (Bielas et al., 2016; Cluver, Orkin, Boyes & Sherr, 2015). While the available ACEs literature has overwhelmingly focused on negative outcomes, a limited amount of research has identified protective factors that may help adolescents build resilience. Literature on resilience is lacking particularly among Latino adolescents, who are a vulnerable group due to their high exposure to ACEs (Llabre et al., 2017). Three important intrapersonal protective factors, or assets, have been shown to aid adolescents build resilience: self-efficacy, internal locus of control, and emotion regulation.

Self-efficacy refers to a person’s belief in his/her ability to achieve a specific task. Among youth who have experienced maltreatment, those with high levels of self-efficacy have been found to be less likely to develop posttraumatic stress disorder compared to youth with low levels of self-efficacy (Day & Kearney, 2016). Internal locus of control refers to a person’s belief that he/she has control over the outcomes of events that occur in his/her life. This asset has been shown to buffer the effect of negative life events on psychological symptoms among adolescents (Kliewer & Sandler, 1992). Lastly, emotion regulation refers to an individual’s ability to manage distressing feelings, which has been shown to promote resilience among Hispanic adolescents (Mestre et al., 2017). However, to date, no previous study has analyzed the potential buffering effect of these assets on ACEs among Latino adolescents. In order to address these gaps in the literature, the purpose of this study was 1) to analyze the relationship between ACEs and subjective psychological well-being, and 2) to test whether self-efficacy, internal locus of control and emotion regulation moderate such relationship.

Participants currently consist of a community sample of 79 Latino adolescents (ages 13-19) who completed validated self-report measures. Our findings suggest that there is a negative relationship between ACEs and psychological well-being, such that adolescents with a higher number of ACEs reported a lower level of psychological well-being. In terms of the assets, self-efficacy and internal locus of control moderated the relationship between ACEs and psychological well-being; however, emotion regulation had no effect on the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

Our results are preliminary as we will continue to collect data. However, our findings will serve as the empirical basis for prevention and intervention programs aimed at promoting growth and resilience. Specifically, our study identified two assets among Latino adolescents who experienced adverse childhood events. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of identifying assets that can help at-risk adolescents maintain positive functioning despite experiencing adversity.

Authors

• Miguel Nuñez, University of Cincinnati
  Presenting Author

• Jenny Zhen-Duan, University of Cincinnati/Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Farrah Jacquez, University of Cincinnati
  Non-Presenting Author