Childhood Adversity, Resilience, And Psychopathological Symptoms Among Young Adults

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are thought to increase the likelihood of developing psychopathological symptoms as adults. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between ACEs and psychopathological symptoms like depression, anxiety, and stress in young adults and the mediating role of resilience in this relationship. Participants were young adults (n=297) aged 18-24 years drawn from three public universities, in Faisalabad city of Pakistan in 2023. The participants were asked to fill out self-report questionnaires, including demographic sheet, childhood trauma questionnaire, resilience scale, and depression, anxiety, and stress scale. Results indicated a significant positive correlation between ACEs and psychopathological symptoms while psychological resilience was found to be negatively correlated with ACEs and psychopathological symptoms. Resilience played a partially mediating role in the relationship between ACEs and psychopathological symptoms. One of the study's drawbacks is that it used self-reported instruments and was cross-sectional. We conclude that resilience might be a significant factor in the connection between psychopathological symptoms and ACEs. Our findings imply that building resilience may open up new avenues for the treatment and prevention of depression, anxiety, and stress in young adults with a history of childhood adversity.