Psychological inflexibility as a moderator of the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and negative automatic thoughts

• Published in: Journal of family trauma, child custody & child development (Print) child custody & child development (Print), 2023-10, Vol.20 (4), p.528-544
• Main Authors: Sease, Thomas B., John, Dylan A., Perkins, David R., Sandoz, Emily K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adverse childhood experiences; Adversity; Automatic; Child abuse & neglect; Childhood; Childhood experiences; Childhood factors; College students; Psychological flexibility; Therapists
• ISSN: 2690-4586; 2690-4594
• DOI: 10.1080/26904586.2023.2189203

With the widespread incidence of childhood abuse and neglect, understanding modifiable processes moderating the relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and their negative consequences affords researchers and therapists information about appropriate therapeutic targets. Using a cross-sectional design, this study explored the relationship between ACEs and negative automatic thoughts using psychological inflexibility as a moderator. There was a significant 2-way interaction between ACEs and psychological inflexibility when predicting negative automatic thoughts in this sample of college students. When psychological inflexibility was high (1 SD above the mean), ACEs were associated with more negative automatic thoughts. Conversely, the association between ACEs and negative automatic thoughts was non-significant when examined at low levels of psychological inflexibility (1 SD below the mean). In short, psychological inflexibility exacerbated the positive association between childhood adversity and negative automatic thoughts. The current study adds to our understanding of the relation between ACEs and their deleterious outcomes, while supporting the implementation of acceptance-based interventions intended to foster psychological flexibility in the face of childhood adversity.