(PS8-C73) The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Borderline Features and Deliberate Self-harm Behaviors Among College Students: The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation and Interpersonal Functioning

In the late 1990s, Felitti and colleagues famously conducted the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, establishing evidence for a critical link between exposure to childhood abuse and adult health risk and mortality. Since the original ACEs study, subsequent research has established ACEs as significant predictors of deliberate self-harm (DSH) in both clinical and community populations. Prior research has found that adults with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are nearly 14 times more likely to report childhood adversity, underscoring the importance of studying this population with respect to ACEs. Additionally, deficits in emotion regulation skills as well as poor interpersonal functioning have been associated with the development and maintenance of BPD and DSH. However, it remains unclear how the related constructs of emotion regulation and interpersonal functioning impact the relation between ACEs and the outcomes of BPD and deliberate self-harm. The current study will examine the degree to which emotion regulation and interpersonal functioning mediate the relation between ACEs and the outcomes of borderline personality features (BPF) and self-harm among a sample of emerging adult college students. Participants (N = 2,255, M age = 19.25) include college students from seven universities participating in a multisite data collection collaborative. Participants completed online self-report measures of ACEs, borderline features, function and frequency of DSH, interpersonal functioning, and emotion regulation. All questionnaires were completed using Qualtrics, a secure online survey platform. Multiple regression models will be constructed to estimate the relation between: (1) ACEs and each dependent variable, (2) ACEs and each mediating variable, (3) the mediating variables and each dependent variable, and (4) ACEs and each dependent variable controlling for the hypothesized mediators. If results are consistent, mediational path analyses will be used to estimate direct and indirect effects of ACEs through emotion regulation and interpersonal functioning and evaluate the overall fit of the mediation models. All analyses will be completed before the scheduled conference date. Findings from the current study will potentially identify targeted intervention areas that are specific to the present population and provide treatment recommendations for future clinical applications.