Emotion regulation strategies modulate the effect of adverse childhood experiences on perceived chronicstress with implications for cognitive flexibility.

Vrinda Kalia,Katherine Knauft,Petri Böckerman

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0235412

Abstract

Exposure to early life adversity is associated with chronic stress and a range of stress-related health problems in adulthood. Since chronic stress debilitates activity in the prefrontal cortex (pFC), maladaptive regulatory strategies in response to stress have been proposed as one explanation for the impact of early life adversity on health outcomes in adulthood. We conducted a study to examine the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on cognitive flexibility, a key executive function implicated in activity in the pFC, in a sample of adults (N = 486). Additionally, we investigated whether perceptions of chronic stress in adulthood would mediate the influence of ACEs on cognitive flexibility. However, stress is a subjective experience, and emotion regulation strategies can attenuate the stress response. So, we also examined if individual differences in emotion regulation strategies would modulate the relationship between ACEs and chronic stress. Our results demonstrate that early life adversity, as characterized by ACEs, is associated with decreased cognitive flexibility in adulthood. Additionally, number of ACEs was positively correlated with perceived stress, which in turn was negatively correlated with cognitive flexibility. But, individual differences in the habitual use of emotion regulation strategies moderated the influence of ACEs on chronic stress. Specifically, habitual use of cognitive reappraisal attenuated the stress levels whereas habitual use of expressive suppression exacerbated stress levels. Overall, our study highlights the importance of examining emotion regulation in individuals who have experienced early life adversity.

Highlights

Exposure to adverse experiences in early development is associated with increased risk of mental illness and negative health outcomes in adulthood [1]
Since Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI)-Alternatives was not correlated with reported number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), we did not conduct a mediation analysis with this variable
In the first moderated mediation model, we tested whether the path from number of ACEs to perceived stress was moderated by individual differences in habitual use of cognitive reappraisal to regulate emotions

Summary

Introduction

Exposure to adverse experiences in early development is associated with increased risk of mental illness and negative health outcomes in adulthood [1]. Exposure to adversity in childhood is correlated with increased risk for depression in adulthood [2].

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Results

Conclusion