Early trauma and psychosocial outcomes among college students

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as physical abuse and family dysfunction are associated with long-term health outcomes. Even so, research on the link between ACEs and psychosocial outcomes is relatively underdeveloped. The present study sought to understand the relationship between ACEs, stress, social support, and mental health. 722 college students attending three universities located within the Midwestern and Southern United States completed self-report surveys related to their history of ACEs and current stress, social support, and mental health. Using ordinary least squares regression, we explored the relationship between ACES and psychosocial outcomes. We found an increasing number of ACEs to significantly predict stress, social support, and mental health. We further explored the relationship between each ACE and the outcomes of interest, observing emotional neglect, emotional abuse, and family member mental illness to have the strongest relationship with stress while emotional neglect and emotional abuse were most strongly related to social support. Higher education administrators and staff seeking to improve the mental health of their students should explore opportunities to enhance stress coping mechanisms and available social support.