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Daníelsdóttir, Hilda Björk; Aspelund, Thor; Thordardottir, Edda Bjork; Fall, Katja; Fang, Fang; Tómasson, Gunnar; Rúnarsdóttir, Harpa; Yang, Qian; Choi, Karmel W.; Kennedy, Beatrice; Halldorsdottir, Thorhildur; Lu, Donghao; Song, Huan; Jakobsdóttir, Jóhanna; Hauksdóttir, Arna; Valdimarsdóttir, Unnur Anna (2022). Adverse childhood experiences and resilience among adult women: A population-based study. eLife, 11, e71770. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71770

Can a tough childhood affect how well people handle stress as adults? Psychology Researchers from Iceland, Sweden, the U.S., and China examined whether adverse childhood experiences ( ACEs) are linked to resilience later in life. 

They studied 26,000 women from Iceland who experienced at least one traumatic event during their lifetime. Researchers measured 13 types of adverse childhood experiences, including abuse, neglect, bullying, and household mental illness. They also assessed participants' ability to cope with stress and whether they remained free from common mental health problems like depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. 

Results? The more adverse childhood experiences a participant reported, the lower her resilience tended in adulthood. Women with five or more ACEs were 36% less likely to report strong coping skills and 58% less likely to show high psychiatric resilience than women without childhood adversity. Emotional neglect, bullying, sexual abuse, and having mentally ill household members were especially linked to lower resilience. 

Findings suggest that resilience does not simply appear later in life. Early experiences help shape how people respond to stress for years to come. While many individuals overcome childhood adversity, training parents to prevent ACEs and support children may have lifelong benefits for mental health. 

Written by Dan Peacock M.A.