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The association between adverse childhood experiences and personality, emotions and affect: Does number and type of experiences matter?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2019.103908Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Examined association between ACEs and personality, emotions and affect in adults.

  • All ACE scores were significantly and positively associated with neuroticism.

  • All ACE scores were significantly and negatively associated with conscientiousness.

  • Abuse was significantly associated with neuroticism, openness, conscientiousness.

  • Greater effect with increasing ACE score and ACE abuse type.

Abstract

Background

There is strong evidence that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) negatively impact mental health. However, the association between ACEs and personality, emotions and affect are poorly understood. Therefore, we examined the association between composite ACE score and ACE type and personality, emotions and positive and negative affect.

Methods

Three waves of data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) study were used. ACE was the primary independent correlate. Covariates included demographic variables and survey wave. Outcome variables included generativity, personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agency), and affect (positive, negative). Statistical analyses included 3 approaches: (1) treatment of ACE as dichotomous, (2) ordinal composite of ACE score, and (3) three individual ACE type components to assess the association between ACE and psychological constructs.

Results

Of 6323 adults in the sample, 53% were female, and 56% had a past ACE. In the adjusted analyses, dichotomized ACE was significantly associated with neuroticism (β = 0.10; 95% CI 0.07, 0.13) and conscientiousness (β = −0.03; 95% CI −0.05, −0.01). All ACE scores were significantly and positively associated with neuroticism and negatively associated with conscientiousness. Abuse was significantly associated with neuroticism (β = 0.20; 95% CI 0.16, 0.24), openness (β = 0.08; 95% CI 0.05, 0.11), conscientiousness (β = −0.05; 95% CI −0.08, −0.02), and agency (β = 0.06; 95% CI 0.02, 0.10). All ACE categories, except financial strain, were significantly associated with affect.

Conclusion

ACEs are significantly associated with personality, emotions, and affect, with greater effect seen at higher ACE scores and with ACE abuse type, which helps support the cumulative risk hypothesis and our study hypothesis. There is a need for continued research to understand the mechanistic processes and the directionality of the association between ACEs, emotions, and behaviors to help continue to drive biopsychosocial interventions.

Introduction

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) include various forms of abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction and are defined as stressful or traumatic events that can negatively affect health (Felitti et al., 1998). The estimated prevalence of individuals who have experienced at least one ACE is 59% and four or more ACEs is 14.3% (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016). Previous studies have shown that exposure to emotional abuse, physical abuse, and neglect increase the risk of depressive disorders, anxiety, anorexia, substance abuse, and suicide attempts (Dube et al., 2001, Felitti et al., 1998, Norman et al., 2012). Studies have also shown an increased risk of personality and behavioral disorders in those who have experienced ACEs (Afifi et al., 2011). Overall, ACEs are correlated with increased psychological distress and decreased subjective well-being (Corcoran and McNulty, 2018, Oshio et al., 2013).

Psychological constructs such as affect, personality traits, and generativity help to better understand emotions and behaviors (John, Naumann, & Soto, 2008) and are tied to subjective well-being (Cox et al., 2010, DeNeve and Cooper, 1998). Affect is comprised of two components: positive and negative, and affective states influence social cognition by way of moods and social judgements (Forgas, 2008). Positive affect is the general sense that things are going well and can include moods and emotions such as cheerfulness, happiness, or satisfaction (Diener, Pressman, Hunter, & Delgadillo-Chase, 2017). Negative affect, which is not just the inverse of positive affect, is the general sense that things are not going well and can include moods and emotions such as sadness, worry, and hopelessness (Diener et al., 2017). Population studies of positive and negative affect have shown that both contribute to subjective well-being and are influenced by sociodemographic factors and personality traits (Diener et al., 2017, Mroczek and Kolarz, 1998, Mroczek, 2004).

The Five-Factor Model (FFM), or Big Five taxonomy, is a descriptive, organizational model of personality traits, which is used to describe behaviors and conceptualize mental disorders and has been a dominant model of approach in personality theory (John et al., 2008, Krueger and Eaton, 2010, McCrae and John, 1992, Trull and Widiger, 2013). Classic personality theories are built around human needs (Freud, 1927) while more modern personality theories, such as the five-factor personality theory, capture the essence that characteristic traits are different amongst people and that personality reflects a person’s recurring thoughts, feelings, and emotions (Dweck, 2017, John and Srivastava, 1999, McCrae and Costa, 1999). The personality traits in the FFM—neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness—have been helpful in predicting subjective well-being, physical health, and mental health (Lahey, 2009, Ozer and Benet-Martínez, 2006, Trull and Widiger, 2013). Although not a part of the FFM, agency is another personality trait, defined as the focus on self and individualization and includes qualities such as ambition, competence, and dominance (Abele and Wojciszke, 2007, Helgeson, 1994). It is a predictor of lower psychological distress and has been indirectly linked to well-being – positively through self-esteem, and negatively by dysphoria, depression, and anxiety (Helgeson, 1994, Hirokawa and Dohi, 2007, Lippa, 2001, Trudeau et al., 2003).

According to Erickson’s psychosocial development stages, generativity is the seventh stage of development that occurs in midlife when a person’s focus shifts from inward to outward, with an emphasis on transmitting knowledge to and guiding future generations (Erikson, 1959). More recent research and theory postulates that generativity is not a discrete stage in life, but rather one that becomes more salient with age due to cultural demands, inner desire, beliefs, concerns, and commitments (McAdams & de St. Aubin, 1992).

Previous evidence has shown an association between ACEs and various psychological constructs. ACEs negatively impact affect such that a decrease in positive affect and an increase in negative affect occurs, as well as an increase in positive affect variability and a higher persistence of negative affect over time (Corcoran and McNulty, 2018, Greger et al., 2017, Hirokawa and Dohi, 2007, Perea et al., 2012, Somers et al., 2017, Teicher et al., 2015). ACEs are associated with big five personality traits such as an increase in neuroticism and openness and decrease in extraversion (Hovens et al., 2016, Mc Elroy and Hevey, 2014), and, in men, specific ACE types, financial strain and harsh parenting, have been shown to decrease the likelihood of achieving generativity in midlife (Landes, Ardelt, Vaillant, & Waldinger, 2014). The previous studies on positive and negative affect and the big five personality traits do not deconstruct ACE into the types or number experienced, and the previous study on achieving generativity in midlife, assesses only two types of ACEs and the effect only in a male population. To our knowledge no study has examined the association between ACEs and agency. The cumulative risk hypothesis, which posits that the cumulative effect of risk factors increases the probability of adverse outcomes, has been applied in ACE research and has shown a grade effect on mental health and somatic health outcomes, substance abuse, and sexuality outcomes (Anda et al., 2006). ACE reseach by type of ACE experienced has shown that all types of ACE can influence poor adult health but that childhood abuse may have a unique adverse influence (Chartier, Walker, & Naimark, 2010).

Therefore, to address these gaps in the literature, we examined the association between composite ACE score and ACE type and personality, emotions and affect using a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States. We hypothesized that increasing number of ACEs and specific ACE subtypes would be significantly associated with personality, emotions and affect.

Section snippets

Sample and study population

This analysis used three waves of data from the MacArthur Foundation Survey for Midelife Development in the United States (MIDUS), a national longitudinal study of health and well-being. The purpose of the MIDUS study was to investigate the role of behavioral, psychological, and social factors in understanding age-related differences in physical and mental health. The first wave of the MIDUS study (MIDUS 1) collected survey data from a total of 7108 participants in 1995–1996. All eligible

Results

The longitudinal sample included 6323 adults, and the sample baseline demographics for all participants and those who completed three waves are represented in Table 1. The median age of the cohort was 46 (Interquartile Range (IQR): 36–57) with 52.51% being female, and 55.92% reporting ACEs. Women, middle age (40–54 years), white, higher education, married, and higher income groups were more likely to have completed all three waves of the survey.

The baseline MIDUS wave 1 Generativity,

Discussion

In this study, ACEs were found to significantly impact psychosocial constructs, specifically, positive and negative affect and personality traits. At all compositve levels of ACE, positive and negative affect were negatively impacted, where regardless of score, having an ACE resulted in less positive affect and more negative affect. This effect was also seen with the specific ACE types of abuse and household dysfunction with a more prominent effect seen with abuse. For personality traits,

Conclusion

In this national sample of adults, ACEs were associated with personality, emotions and affect. An ACE score of three impacted the most psychological constructs compared to lower ACE scores, and ACE abuse type impacted the most psychological constructs compared to household dysfunction and financial strain. Therefore, higher ACE scores and abuse have a unique adverse influence on emotions and personality. There is a need for continued research in the behavior and psychosocial dimensions to

Author contributions

LEE designed the study. EG acquired and analyzed the data. EG and LEE developed the analyses, and JP, EG, CE, JSW, and LEE interpreted the data. JP, EG, CE, JSW, and LEE wrote and critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors approved the final manuscript.

Funding

Effort for this study was partially supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Disease (K24DK093699, R01DK118038, R01DK120861, PI: Egede) and the National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities (R01MD013826, PI: Egede/Walker).

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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