Positive Childhood Experiences and a Dimensional Approach To Childhood Adversity: Associations with Adult Loneliness

Abstract Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been associated with higher levels of adult loneliness. Less is known about the relationship between Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) and adult loneliness, and the potential for PCEs to buffer the negative effects of ACEs. We assessed whether PCEs explained additional variance in adult men’s and women’s loneliness after controlling for ACEs, and whether PCEs moderated the association between ACEs and loneliness. A sample of 872 participants (70.4% women, 29.6% men) was recruited and, after providing informed consent, completed online versions of the Childhood Experiences Scale-17, the Benevolent Childhood Experiences Scale, and the UCLA Loneliness Scale. We tested a model examining whether loneliness was associated with maltreatment, threat, and deprivation (ACEs), PCEs, gender, and interactions between these variables. Although ACEs were initially, and positively, correlated with loneliness in both men and women, this association became non-significant when PCEs and other variables were added to the model. PCEs were significantly, and negatively, associated with adult loneliness. Further, none of the interactions achieved statistical significance. Our findings suggest that PCEs are strongly, and negatively, associated with adult loneliness scores – even more so than ACEs. Thus, researchers may benefit from placing greater emphasis on how early experiences of benevolence help protect against loneliness.