Mitigating the Relation Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Perceived Stress: The Role of Resilience

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and perceived stress (PS) are linked to multiple deleterious physical and mental health outcomes in adulthood. ACEs are thought to contribute to PS, though studies to date have focused on risk factors underlying this connection as opposed to protective variables. The current work examined resilience as a promotive and protective factor of lowered PS when the influence of ACEs is also considered. Moreover, the present study sought to determine whether resilience evinced buffering effects across a cumulative ACE score and across individual ACE components. Participants were 5,183 college students attending a large university in the Southwest region of the USA. Findings identified resilience as a promotive factor for lowered PS when adjusting for cumulative and separate components of ACEs. However, in the presence of specific ACE components, high resilience did not attenuate the influence of these ACE components on PS. Results highlight the need for policy targeting the reduction of ACEs and access to resilience-promoting resources to reduce the impact on PS and later consequences.