Poster #38 - Positive Childhood Experiences Associate with Adult Flourishing Amidst Adversity

• In Event: Poster Session 04

Abstract

Background: There is now a large body of research documenting the prevalence and negative consequences of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in adulthood. However, far less is known about the prevalence of positive childhood experiences (PCEs) and whether such experiences can buffer individuals from the negative effects of ACEs.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of PCEs among young adults in Mainland China and the extent to which the cumulative number of PCEs moderates the associations between ACEs and flourishing in adulthood.
Design, Setting, and Participants: Between August and November 2020, we used convenience and snowball sampling to recruit 9,468 young adults, ages 18-35, enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs at Universities in Mainland China to participate in a survey.
Methods: We measured six domains of flourishing using the Chinese version of the Flourishing Measure. Exposure to ACEs was measured by the twelve-item Chinese version of the ACE-International Questionnaire. PCEs were measured using the nine-item Chinese version of the Positive Childhood Experiences Scale (C-PCEs). We also collected demographic characteristics (i.e., sex, age, year in university, marital status).
Results: The majority of participants were female (75.3%), undergraduate students (96.4%), and single (79.8%). Approximately, 92% of participants reported experiencing seven to nine PCEs, with harmonious family relationships (96.9%), feeling supported by friends (96.8%) and being treated fairly at school (96.3%) being the most common PCEs reported. The cumulative number of PCEs were significantly correlated with all domains of flourishing. Results of the multiple regression indicated that the cumulative number of PCEs significantly moderated the relation between the cumulative number of ACEs and flourishing; as the number of ACEs increased up through 8 ACEs, decreases in flourishing were smaller among those with higher numbers of PCEs.
Conclusions: PCEs are common among young adults from mainland China and are associated with higher levels of flourishing. Moreover, our findings indicate that PCEs serve a potential buffering effect against exposure to ACEs. Our findings have implications for efforts to promote PCEs and to prevent the negative social and physical health consequences of ACE exposure.

Authors

• Effy Zhiyuan Yu, Johns Hopkins University
  Presenting Author

• Lin Wang, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

• Wenyi Chen, Johns Hopkins Univerisity

• Juan Zhang

• Amie F. E. Bettencourt