Date of Award
8-2024
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Psychology
Committee Chair
Dr. Stephanie Smith
Committee Chair School
Psychology
Committee Member 2
Dr. Sara Jordan
Committee Member 2 School
Psychology
Committee Member 3
Dr. Freddie Pastrana Rivera
Committee Member 3 School
Psychology
Committee Member 4
Dr. Kate Flory
Abstract
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) refer to childhood abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction that impact later behavioral and physical health, academic, and occupational outcomes (Felitti et al., 1998; Metzler et al., 2017). Prior, studies have more recently shown that ACEs predict deficits in executive functions (Lund et., 2022; Wilson, 2020) and emotional regulation (Badour & Feldner, 2013) and these variables have been found to impact the relation between ACEs and multiple domains of functioning (e.g., psychosocial, behavioral, physical health; Boles, 2021; Cameron et al., 2018; Rudenstine et al., 2019; Trossman et al., 2020). However, no known study has simultaneously examined executive functions and cognitive emotion regulation as mediators of the relation between ACEs and functional outcomes that are particularly relevant to emerging adults. Given these gaps in the literature, the primary aim of this study was to examine pathways through which ACEs are negatively associated with learning effectiveness and positively associated with functional impairment. A sample of 4153 college students across 7 universities completed online measures via Qualtrics. Results revealed that the relation between ACEs and learning effectiveness and subsequent functional impairment was mediated by executive functioning deficits and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation. Without learning effectiveness in the model, associations were in the expected negative direction and executive functioning deficits and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation partially mediated the association between ACEs and functional impairment. Thus, the results of this study highlight the importance of utilizing clinical interventions that target maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation and executive functioning deficits to help mitigate the impact of ACEs on learning effectiveness and functional impairment in college students.
Copyright
Fayth C. Walbridge, 2024
Recommended Citation
Walbridge, Fayth, "Examining Executive Functions and Cognitive Emotion Regulation as Pathways from Childhood Adversity to Learning Effectiveness and Subsequent Functional Impairment in College Students" (2024). Dissertations. 2258.
https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/2258