Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adaptive Functioning

An adverse childhood experience (ACE) is a negative life event experienced during childhood such as abuse, neglect, and witnessing domestic violence. ACEs have traditionally been measured using a cumulative score, but recent studies have demonstrated the importance of considering ACE type and impact. The former refers to ACE categories, such as childhood maltreatment, while the latter refers to how an individual rates the current impact an ACE(s) is continuing to have on their lives (e.g., mostly positive vs. mostly negative). Furthermore, although many studies have found ethnic differences in the number of ACEs, the majority of these studies consist of primarily White samples. Additionally, while a vast portion of the literature delineates the negative outcomes associated with enduring ACEs, there are some individuals who effectively adapt in the face of adversity. Although adaptive functioning is often assessed using a total score, there is extensive support for examining multi-domain functioning. To address the lack of diversity (i.e., age and ethnicity) of past studies, the sample of the current study was comprised of young adults (i.e., 18-29) of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, the current study addressed gaps in the literature by examining how the relationships among ACE predictors and adaptive functioning outcomes varied depending on the measurement of these constructs. Furthermore, the influence of ACE type and race/ethnicity was also explored. Results indicated that the relationship between ACEs and adaptive functioning do change depending on how these constructs are measured and when ACE type and race/ethnicity are accounted for. Future studies should further explore the relationship between ACEs and domains of adaptive functioning among young adults of diverse backgrounds.