Adverse Childhood Experiences Impacting Psychological Well-Being and Cardiac Autonomic Dysregulation: Examining Openness to Experience as a Resilience Factor

Abstract

Studies have stated the importance of identifying resilience factors that mitigate the impact of childhood adversity on psychological and physical health with some suggesting the exploration of psychological factors as buffers. The present dissertation examined the personality trait Openness to Experience as a resilience factor mitigating the negative impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) on eudaimonic well-being and heart rate variability (HRV). The sample consisted of 122 college students at a Historically Black University. Participants ranged in age from 18-24 years old. Seventy-nine percent of the sample identified as female, and 75% of the sample identified as African-American. In the first phase of the study, participants completed questionnaires including demographic questions, the ACE Questionnaire, the Openness to Experience Questionnaire (IPIP Form A), and the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being. In the second phase of the study, forty-seven participants returned to the lab another day. Impedance cardiography monitors were used to collect resting heart rate data. Pearson R correlation and linear regression analyses found a significant inverse relationship between adverse childhood experience prevalence with overall psychological well-being, positive relationships with others, environmental mastery, personal growth, self-acceptance, and autonomy ratings. The moderation analysis testing openness to experience as a resilience factor did not yield main or interaction effects with ACE prevalence on psychological well-being. Some moderation effects were seen at the subscale level; however, due to the increased likelihood of a Type 1 error, the subscale moderation analyses should be interpreted with extreme caution. Psychological well-being was not found to mediate the relationship between ACE prevalence and HRV. A moderated mediation tested openness to experience as a moderator of the indirect relationship between ACE prevalence and HRV through psychological well-being; however, the index of moderated mediation for total openness was insignificant. Future studies should test these hypotheses with a larger sample size.