ACE goes to college: Exploring Inter and Intrapersonal regulation and the effects on substance use in college students.

Background: Substance use (SU) on college campuses is common and is linked with many negative outcomes for students. Research suggests that students with adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are at a higher risk of negative outcomes. This study investigates whether meditation and social support, methods of intrapersonal and interpersonal coping, can offset the negative effects of ACE for SU. Methods: Data are student responses (N= 2,416) from the 2021 CSUN ACHA-NCHA III survey. Outcomes include past three-month use of nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis, with values 0-2 representing no past three-month use (0), infrequent use (1), frequent use (2). ACE was measured as levels of exposure, no ACE (0), 1-3 ACE (1), 4+ ACE (2). Proposed moderators include participation in meditation, with a binary no (0), yes (1), and the measure of perceived social support with a range of 7-40. A series of ordinal logistic regression models tested hypotheses and 3 interactions (ACE*Meditation, ACE*Social Support, ACE*Meditation*Social Support). Results: ACE were associated with increased frequency of nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis use (OR > 1, p <.05 for all models). Frequency of cannabis use was higher for students who meditate compared to those who do not (p<.05). For each additional unit of perceived social support, the odds of being a frequent alcohol user increased (p<.05). The three-way interaction was significant for alcohol and cannabis use at the level of 1-3 ACE. These results indicate that for students with 1-3 ACE the combination of both practicing meditation and a broad, supportive network can mitigate the risk of ACE. Conclusion: These findings reaffirm the relationships between ACE and nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis use among college students. The results of the three-way interaction demarcated the 1-3 ACE category as being moderated by the combination of meditation and perceived social support, while the 4+ category was not moderated by this combination of factors. This underscores the potential benefits of coping skills on the group with moderate childhood trauma, as well as emphasizes the need to research alternative strategies for those with an extensive trauma history.