Negative Affect Predicts Adults’ Ratings of the Current, but Not Childhood, Impact of Adverse Childhood Events

Adverse childhood events (ACE’s) have been empirically related to a wide range of negative health and mental health outcomes.
However, not all individuals who experience ACE’s follow a trajectory of poor outcomes, and not all individuals perceive the
impact of ACE’s as necessarily negative. The purpose of this study was to investigate positive and negative affect as predictors
of adults’ ratings of both the childhood and adult impact of their childhood adversity. Self-report data on ACE experiences,
including number, severity, and ‘impact’ were collected from 158 community members recruited on the basis of having adverse
childhood experiences. Results indicated that, regardless of event severity and number of different types of adverse events
experienced, high levels of negative affect were the strongest predictor of whether the adult impact of the adverse childhood
events was rated as negative. All individuals rated the childhood impact of events the same. Implications are discussed.