Do Adverse Childhood Experiences Exacerbate the Negative Psychological Impact of Childhood Maltreatment for Men and Women?

In alignment with the dose-response model, empirical evidence shows that facing more childhood adversity corresponds with poorer psychological well-being. This project examined two categories of childhood adversity, maltreatment versus additional adverse experiences (i.e., additional ACES, which are defined as household dysfunction) because they differentially impact mental health. This study investigated whether additional ACEs and gender exacerbate the association between childhood maltreatment and adult psychological well-being. Results from 209 adults showed that well-being differed by gender as well as by the number of additional ACEs they endorsed, which diverged from the dose-response model. Although additional ACEs were hypothesized to exacerbate the association between maltreatment and psychological well-being, the results suggest a diminishing or saturation effect. Specifically, the association between maltreatment and well-being was strongest at lower levels of ACEs and attenuated as ACE exposure increased to the point that it was non-significant at high levels of ACEs for the full sample. The same pattern was observed for men, but for women, additional ACEs did not significantly impact the relationship between maltreatment and well-being. In other words, women within each maltreatment level had similar levels of well-being regardless of how many ACEs they had.