Elucidating the Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adult Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) pose risk for poor mental health in adulthood. The ACEs scale has two subscales: child maltreatment and household dysfunction. Less is known about how the ACEs subscales contribute to adult mental health. This study explored the relationship between ACEs and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in adult pregnant women (N = 137) who had experienced past-year intimate partner violence (IPV), and examined the moderating effects of the age, frequency, and duration of ACEs exposure. Results indicate that child maltreatment ACEs predict PTSS significantly better than household dysfunction ACEs, controlling for past-year IPV. Age, frequency, and duration of exposure did not significantly moderate the effects of either ACEs subscale on PTSS. Witnessing IPV during childhood was the only household dysfunction ACE that significantly predicted PTSS. Findings indicate that, in a sample of trauma-exposed pregnant women, experiencing multiple types of child maltreatment has strong predictive validity for PTSS in adulthood.