(PS4-C65) Examining Executive Function and Cognitive Emotion Regulation as Mediators in the Relation Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Learning Effectiveness in College Students

Introduction: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) refer to childhood abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction that negatively impact behavioral and physical health, academic, and occupational outcomes (Felitti et al., 1998; Metzler et al., 2017). Prior research suggests that ACEs are associated with deficits in executive functioning (EF), maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation (CER), and poorer academic outcomes in college students (Hughes et al., 2017; Lund et al., 2022, Wilson, 2020). Elucidating the pathway by which ACEs culminates in these negative outcomes is an interesting avenue for future research (McLaughlin, 2016). EF and CER mediate the relation between ACEs and negative outcomes such as behavioral and physical health (e.g., Boles, 2021; Rudenstine et al., 2019; Trossman Mielke, & McAuley, 2020). Thus, the present study aims to examine the potentially mediating roles of EF and maladaptive CER in the relation between ACEs and learning effectiveness skills (e.g., organizational skills and academic ability).

Methods: Participants included 4,221 college students (68.7% female, 73.2% White, 10.2% Black, M age = 19 years) who completed the following self-report measures in the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters via Qualtrics: ACEs Questionnaire (total score), Barkley Deficits in EF Scale (BDEFS total score), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ total score of maladaptive subscales: Self-blame; Rumination; Catastrophizing; Blaming Others) and College Learning Effectiveness Inventory (CLEI subscale scores: Academic Self-Efficacy [ASE]; Organization and Attention to Study [OAS]; Stress and Time Pressure [STP]). Mediation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro model 4 in SPSS where ACEs was entered as the IV, CLEI subscales as the DV in separate models, and EF and maladaptive CER were entered as parallel mediators.

Results: Results showed that ACEs had significant associations with EF (β = 1.78, p < .001) and maladaptive CER (β = 0.95, p < .001), such that increase in ACEs were associated with increases in maladaptive CER and EF deficits. EF had significant associations with all learning effectiveness skills (β’s = -0.16 - -0.28, p’s < .001), and maladaptive CER had a significant association with the CLEI STP subscale (β = -0.08, p < .001) such that increases in maladaptive CER and EF deficits were associated with decreases in learning effectiveness skills. The indirect effect of ACEs on the CLEI subscales through both maladaptive CER and EF were significant (ASE: β = -0.36, SE = 0.03, [CI -0.42, -0.31]; STP: β = -0.35, SE = 0.02, [CI -0.39, -0.31]; OAS: β = -0.52, SE= 0.03, [CI -0.56,-0.44]). The direct effect between ACEs and the CLEI ASE and STP subscales remained significant (ASE: β -0.31, p < .001; STP: β  = -0.15, p < .001) whereas the direct effect between ACEs and the CLEI OAE subscale became non-significant (OAE: β = -0.07, p = .07).

Discussion: These findings suggest that ACEs may negatively impact college students’ ability to develop learning effectiveness skills, and this relation is partially or fully mediated by maladaptive CER and EF. Thus, strategies that offset EF and CER should be included in clinical interventions and academic supports for college students with ACEs.