Adverse Childhood Experiences Are Associated With Blunted Cardiovascular Reactivity and Poorer Recovery From Acute Psychological Stress

Experiencing childhood adversity is related to later adverse cardiovascular health outcomes. The mechanism by which this occurs may be explained by dysregulation of the autonomic stress response. The aim of this study was to examine whether adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) predicted cardiovascular stress reactivity to and recovery from an acute psychological stressor. In a single laboratory visit, one-hundred and fifty-nine undergraduate students completed a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Task while having their blood pressure and heart rate monitored over the course of a 10-min baseline, 6-min stress test, and 15-min recovery period. Participants also completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences Scale. Using regression analyses, participants who reported experiencing a greater number of ACEs demonstrated significantly lower systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) reactivity to the acute stress task. Additionally, a greater number of ACEs was significantly associated with poorer DBP recovery following stress exposure. The current study indicates that ACEs are associated with blunted cardiovascular reactivity to, as well as poorer cardiovascular recovery from acute psychological stress. These findings indicate a psychophysiological mechanism facilitating the association between ACEs and adverse cardiovascular health outcomes.