Patterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences Predict Event-Related Distress in Young Adults Following the 2016 Presidential Election

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and sociopolitical stressors have negative consequences for young adults’ mental health. The current study examined how patterns of ACEs were associated with event-related clinical distress following the 2016 United States presidential election and tested whether difficulties in emotion regulation exacerbated ACE effects in 751 young adults. A latent class analysis (LCA) identified four classes of ACE exposure: Minimal Exposure (55.2%), Moderate Household Dysfunction (21.3%), High Verbal and Physical Abuse (17.8%), and Systemic Exposure (5.6%). Young adults in the Systemic Exposure class reported more event-related intrusion symptoms compared to all other classes. Lower levels of difficulty in emotion regulation were protective for classes with lower ACE exposure but were not relevant for classes with higher ACE exposure. Thus, ACEs may occur in unique constellations that have implications for sociopolitical stressors and mental health outcomes in young adulthood.