Adverse Childhood Experiences and Loneliness of College Students: Exploring the Moderating Effect of Positive Childhood Experiences

Background and Purpose: Many studies have demonstrated detrimental effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) over the past 20 years. Researchers have cautioned against an excessive focus on the adverse aspects of childhood experiences and suggested a comprehensive discussion regarding accountability for environmental factors, such as appropriate social resources for childhood growth and development. Recent studies seek to understand the role of Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) in the relationships between ACEs and adult outcomes. Also, the prevalence of loneliness and its association with negative health outcomes are becoming increasingly evident in South Korea. This study aims to examine whether PCEs moderate the link between ACEs and loneliness in emerging adulthood.

Methods: The online survey recruited a national sample of 1,067 college students in 2021. The study employed non-probability quota sampling to have a balanced ratio in gender (female and male) and geographic locations (Seoul and other cities). The dependent variable was loneliness assessed by the 6-item version of De Jong Gierveld Scale (De Jong Gierveld & Van Tilburg, 2006). Respondents rated such feelings from 0 (never) to 4 (always), and the total score was created by summing the responses of the six items (ranged 0-24). The independent variables were ACEs. Eleven binary indicators were used to count the total number of ACEs (e.g., emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, parental separation/divorce, intimate partner violence, and substance abuse, mental illness, death, incarceration in family; range 0-11). The moderating variable was the total number of PCEs. The study measured PCEs with 10 binary items using the Benevolent Childhood Experiences Scale (range 0-10). The questions asked about their home, neighborhood, and school environments, such as whether having a safe home environment with a predictable routine or fun activities, having good friends and neighbors, and having teachers who cared. We conducted a hierarchical regression analysis to test the moderating effect of PCEs on the relationship between ACEs and loneliness, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, college type, parents’ education, income, work status, and health status).

Results: Approximately 16% of the sample reported feeling lonely all the time and almost 13% of the sample reported not feeling lonely. The average scores were 9.73 (SD=4.08) for loneliness. The mean ACEs score was 2.00 (SD=2.09), and the mean PCEs score was 8.01 (SD=2.29). The hierarchical regression analysis presented that there was a positive association between ACEs and loneliness (b= .23, p< .001), controlling for other factors. The final analysis found that PCEs significantly moderated the relationship between ACEs and loneliness (b= .45, p< .05).

Discussion and Implications: Our findings support that PCEs might be crucial to buffer the negative impact of ACEs on loneliness during early adulthood. This study discusses policy and practice implications that promote of positive experiences to offset the deleterious effects of ACEs.