Work

Adverse childhood experiences, daily worries, and positive thoughts: A daily diary multi‐wave study

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To examine adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as a prospective predictor of the day-to-day associations between worries and positive thinking among late adolescents. METHOD: Cumulative ACEs were measured from parent and youth reports between the ages of 9.9 and 18.1. Late adolescents (N = 103) reported daily worries and positive thoughts across ten days. RESULTS: Adverse childhood experiences predicted higher and more variable levels of day-to-day worry. Increases in positive thinking on one day predicted less next-day worry for adolescents with low, but not high, ACE scores. CONCLUSIONS: Daily worry during late adolescence may be an important consequence of earlier exposure to ACEs. Early interventions focused on worry reduction and improved emotion regulation might mitigate worry among high-ACE youth.

Source: British Journal of Clinical Psychology

DOI: 10.1111/bjc.12200

Authors: Reout Arbel, Hannah L. Schacter, Kelly F. M. Kazmierski, Marie‐Ève Daspe, Gayla Margolin

Institutions: University of Haifa, University of Southern California

Language: English

Topic: Child Abuse and Trauma

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development