Examining How Adverse Childhood Experiences, Resilience, and Social Support Influence Academic Satisfaction

College students face many challenges while working toward their educational goals (Meneghel et al., 2019). Although stressors may not seem significant, they are important to address as the effects accumulate over time and can have a negative impact on students' performance (Gresham & Karatekin, 2023). Without the impact of ACEs, children would be better equipped with skills that could help them continue with higher education, gain better employment, and break the cycle of trauma for any future children. Resilience can help students cope with challenges and improve their chances of graduation and academic success (Myat Zaw et al., 2022). One way to build resilience is through strong social support networks. A lack of social support during college leads to an increased risk of severity and prevalence of student physical and mental health issues (Caporale-Berkowitz, 2022). These issues can contribute to a lack of school attendance, higher dropout rates, and reduced retention rates. Mitigating the impact of ACEs is important because of the association between ACEs and many adverse social outcomes, such as lower employment levels, lower educational accomplishment rates, and reduced lifetime productivity and income (Roseby & Gascoigne, 2021). This study found that social support is important in mitigating the relationship between ACEs and academic satisfaction. Additionally, the study found that people with low ACE scores reported higher resilience. Understanding the connection between ACEs, resilience, and social support may help mitigate the impact of ACEs to give students the best opportunity to succeed at college.