The role of emotion regulation in the relationship between childhood adversity and COVID-19 stress

Poor emotion regulation and low resilience are associated with high stress levels in adults with a history of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The goal of the current study was to explore the relationship between ACEs and stress level experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the potential mediational effects of current emotion regulation and resilience. Two hundred and eight participants, aged 18 to 71 completed online self-report measures assessing retrospectively their stress level during the COVID-19 pandemic and their childhood adversity with the ACEs questionnaire. Current emotion regulation was assessed with the Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory (PERCI) and current resilience was measured with the Connor-Davidson-Risk 25 (CD-25). Mediation analyses were used to investigate whether current emotion regulation and resilience mediated the relationship between retrospective ACEs and COVID-19 stress. Results indicated that a higher number of ACEs was associated with increased stress during the pandemic. Poor emotion regulation ( ab = 0.05), in particular poor regulation of negative emotions ( ab = 0.10), mediated the relationship between ACEs and COVID-19 stress but resilience was not a significant mediator. These results highlight the psychological burden of childhood adversity during the COVID-19 pandemic and point to the importance of identifying and treating individuals with childhood trauma. • ACEs was associated with increased stress during COVID-19 • Emotion regulation mediated the relationship between ACEs and COVID-19 stress. • Negative emotion regulation may be particularly central to COVID-19 stress. • Interventions to improve emotion regulation may be helpful for this population.