Adverse and Protective Childhood Experiences and Parenting Attitudes: the Role of Cumulative Protection in Understanding Resilience

Abstract

Theory and research indicate that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to negative parenting attitudes and behaviors. We posit that protective and compensatory experiences (PACEs) in childhood buffer the negative effects of ACEs on later parenting. To test this premise, the present study examined associations between ACEs, PACEs, and attitudes towards nurturing and harsh parenting in an ethnically diverse sample of parents with children of various ages (N = 109; 65% mothers, 35% fathers; M age = 38). Parents completed a widely used parenting attitudes questionnaire and the ACEs and PACEs surveys. PACEs were negatively correlated with ACEs and positively correlated with nurturing parenting attitudes and parent income and education levels. Linear regression models indicate that higher PACEs, ACEs, and family income and less harsh parenting attitudes predict nurturing parenting attitudes. In contrast, higher ACEs and less nurturing attitudes were correlated with harsh parenting attitudes. As expected, moderation analyses indicated that the association between ACEs and harsh parenting attitudes was conditional upon the level of PACEs. When PACE scores were low (M-1 SD), but not when PACE scores were average or high (M + 1 SD), ACEs were associated with harsh parenting attitudes, suggesting a buffering effect of PACEs on negative parenting attitudes. These findings support the importance of including protective as well as adverse childhood experiences when assessing the role of childhood experiences on parenting attitudes and practices. Implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners are discussed, as well as new directions for PACEs research using a cumulative protection approach.

The Intersection of Depressive Symptoms, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Protective Factors Among Adolescents: Epidemiological Evidence from Minnesota, 2016 and 2019

“…This research shows that cumulative protective factors can buffer against the deleterious effects of ACEs and promote healthy youth development (Hays-Grudo et al, 2021;Syvertsen et al, 2019;Morris et al, 2021;Bethell et al, 2019). Moreover, this research indicates that the interaction of ACEs and cumulative protective factors plays a pivotal role in adolescent health, as risk for poor health and developmental outcomes is highest for those who report high ACEs and few protective factors (Morris et al, 2021;Bethell et al, 2019). Consequently, the presence of ACEs increases risk for negative health outcomes such as depression, cumulative protection can encourage the process of positive outcomes despite risk, and risk is highest for those who experience adversity and low cumulative protection.…”

“…The DAF contends that multiple assets can be integrated into a single prevalence estimate that captures cumulative assets, or the number of assets present in an individual's life, helping local public health agencies consider a range of factors rather than attempting to prioritize a single asset to track. A growing area of research takes seminal developmental work (e.g., Cicchetti et al, 2000;Masten, 2001;Rutter, 1987;Sameroff, 1975;Werner & Smith, 1992), and expands it by measuring and assessing the impact of cumulative protective factors among youth (Bethell et al, 2019;Hays-Grudo et al, 2021;Morris et al, 2021;Syvertsen et al, 2019). This research shows that cumulative protective factors can buffer against the deleterious effects of ACEs and promote healthy youth development (Hays-Grudo et al, 2021;Syvertsen et al, 2019;Morris et al, 2021;Bethell et al, 2019).…”

“…A growing area of research takes seminal developmental work (e.g., Cicchetti et al, 2000;Masten, 2001;Rutter, 1987;Sameroff, 1975;Werner & Smith, 1992), and expands it by measuring and assessing the impact of cumulative protective factors among youth (Bethell et al, 2019;Hays-Grudo et al, 2021;Morris et al, 2021;Syvertsen et al, 2019). This research shows that cumulative protective factors can buffer against the deleterious effects of ACEs and promote healthy youth development (Hays-Grudo et al, 2021;Syvertsen et al, 2019;Morris et al, 2021;Bethell et al, 2019). Moreover, this research indicates that the interaction of ACEs and cumulative protective factors plays a pivotal role in adolescent health, as risk for poor health and developmental outcomes is highest for those who report high ACEs and few protective factors (Morris et al, 2021;Bethell et al, 2019).…”

“…Even in the face of adversity, healthy youth development is possible with the assistance of protective factors that range from internal processes such as a sense of empowerment to external processes such as positive relationships with adults (Fergus & Zimmerman, 2005;Scales et al, 2000). Resilience is the process of fostering positive outcomes despite risk (Henry et al, 2015;Masten, 2001;Wright et al, 2013), and protective factors increase the likelihood of resilience (Hays-Grudo & Morris, 2020;Morris et al, 2021;Wright et al, 2013). Protective factors can contribute to the dynamic process, or the capacity of a dynamic system, that allows youth to adapt successfully to challenges or disturbances (e.g., ACEs) that threaten healthy development (Masten, 2015;Wright et al, 2013).…”

Parents and Peers in Child and Adolescent Development: Preface to the Special Issue on Additive, Multiplicative, and Transactional Mechanisms

“…The ACEs typically examined are family based (as in the original study [22]), but there are clearly peer-based traumas such as bullying and ostracism, and researchers are just beginning to look at those in conjunction with family ACEs [23,24]. However, family and peer relationships also might serve a mediation or moderating role, in other words, serve as "protective and compensatory experiences" (PACEs; [25]) to mitigate risk and to increase the chances of resilience.…”