Adverse Childhood Experiences and Chronic Medical Conditions: Emotion Dysregulation as a Mediator of Adjustment
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Adverse Childhood Experiences and Chronic Medical Conditions: Emotion Dysregulation as a Mediator of Adjustment Hannah C. Espeleta1 · Christina M. Sharkey1 · Dana M. Bakula1 · Kaitlyn L. Gamwell1 · Camille Archer2 · Megan N. Perez1 · Caroline M. Roberts1 · John M. Chaney1 · Larry L. Mullins1
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known to contribute to long-term harmful effects on mental health in young adults. Research has demonstrated that having a chronic medical condition (CMC) can also be conceptualized as being a potentially traumatic experience, and that young adults with a CMC are also at risk for negative adjustment. Emotion dysregulation, or difficulty identifying and regulating one’s emotions, is common among individuals with ACEs, and is a predictor of young adult adjustment. Given the mediational link between ACEs, emotion dysregulation, and young adult adjustment, it is likely that emotion dysregulation may demonstrate a similar linkage to adjustment in individuals with a CMC. The current study compared the effects of ACEs and having a CMC on depressive and anxious symptoms, while also examining emotion dysregulation as a possible mediator for both ACEs and CMC on adjustment outcomes, specifically depressive and anxious symptoms. College students (N = 1911) completed online questionnaires that assessed history of ACEs, emotion regulation difficulties, adjustment, and chronic illness status. Path analyses demonstrated a significant correlation between ACEs and depressive and anxious symptoms, as well as having a CMC and depressive and anxious symptoms. Furthermore, emotion dysregulation demonstrated a significant mediation between ACEs and negative adjustment, as well as between having a CMC and negative adjustment. This study highlights the importance of emotion dysregulation in understanding outcomes for individuals with a CMC and/or ACEs. Keywords Adverse childhood experiences · Chronic medical condition · Adjustment · Emotion dysregulation Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been conceptualized as a constellation of early traumatic experiences and household dysfunction, including events such as witnessing domestic violence, caregiver incarceration, and caregiver substance abuse (Felitti et al., 1998). These early experiences have been linked to increased prevalences rates of health conditions, including those that constitue the leading causes of death in the United States (Felitti et al., 1998; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). ACEs also show consistent associations with mental health concerns in adulthood such as increased rates of depressive disorders (Chapman et al., 2004), anxiety disorders (Anda et al., * Hannah C. Espeleta [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, 116 N Murray Hall, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
2
2006), non-suicidal self-injury (Isohookana, Riala, Hakko, &
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