Childhood Adversity That Impacts Coping and Stress in Adulthood

Research conducted in the mid-1990s tailored to the exploration of adverse events that prevail in childhood. Adverse events describe the occurrence, regardless of frequency, of negative events that arise primarily within a person’s family system. The types of adverse events are identified based on the particular impact, such as physical, emotional, or sexual harm. Subsequent research has introduced variations of psychological, physiological, and psychosocial implications based on adverse childhood experiences (ACE) exposure. Previous descriptive research has helped identify the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and adulthood adversity, but little is known of direct correlations between adult stress and coping mechanisms concurrent with ACE vulnerability. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship that exists among ACE, stress-related behaviors, and coping mechanisms. A total of 110 adult participants on a college campus in Western Kentucky completed a survey that inquired about socio-demographics, stress-related behaviors, positive coping mechanisms, and exposure to adverse childhood experiences. The ACE questionnaire, previously devised in another research study, was utilized to score the occurrence of events from zero to all ten events taking place on an individual basis. For the purpose of ethical practice and protection of participants, the Institutional Review Board approved the study and consent was given prior to active participation. Data derived from the current study demonstrated a correlation between ACE and a higher occurrence of stress-related behaviors and a decrease prevalence of positive coping mechanisms. Using SPSS, Pearson’s correlation was computed at r 0.538 and significance of less than <0.01 between the average occurrence of stress-related behaviors and ACE occurrence. Stress-related behaviors were identified in a series of six similar questions that ask the frequency of participation in a behavior when experiencing stress. The most common stress-related behavior was isolation with a mean value of 1.8 and standard deviation of 1.0. Of the 110 participants 69.1% were females, 89.1% were between ages 18-24, and only 33.6% of the total sample did not report an adverse childhood experience. Based on the sensitivity of the survey questions derived from the Adverse Childhood Experience questionnaire, the validity of results in the event of false or unreported disclosure to personally inquisitive questions may have altered study findings. The study findings are essential to addressing modifiable risk factors that precipitate negative health outcomes in adulthood that can lead to early mortality.