Facing Adverse Childhood Experiences

NCT05122988 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: SNF Nr. 100019_197731
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 2,606
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Childhood experiences affect psychosocial well-being and mental health across the life course for better or worse. The aim of the present study is to investigate how adverse childhood experiences before the age of 18 impact psychological functioning in young adulthood, and whether social information processing and emotion regulation may mediate these associations.

Conditions

Adverse Childhood Experiences

Keywords

Adverse childhood experiences; psychosocial functioning; emotion regulation; social information processing; social support

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (10)

• Latent composite score for psychosocial functioning

  A single latent score for overall psychosocial functioning will be created out of the following individual variables using the MPlus software: Well-being (Ryff \& Keyes 1995), Internalizing (Spitzer et al., 2011) and externalizing (Renshaw \& Cook 2019) psychopathological symptoms, psychosocial burden (Brodbeck et al., 2007) and functioning in social und and work situations (Mundt et al., 2002). A higher score indicates better overall psychological functioning.

  a baseline measurement (w1)

• Latent composite score for psychosocial functioning

  A single latent score for overall psychosocial functioning will be created out of the following individual variables using the MPlus software: Well-being (Ryff \& Keyes 1995), Internalizing (Spitzer et al., 2011) and externalizing (Renshaw \& Cook 2019) psychopathological symptoms, psychosocial burden (Brodbeck et al., 2007) and functioning in social und and work situations (Mundt et al., 2002). A higher score indicates better overall psychological functioning.

  change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)

• Psychological Well-being

  Six dimensions (autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance) measured with Ryffs Well-being scale (Ryff \& Keyes 1995), 42 item Version (Abbott et al., 2010). Scores for the subscales range from 7 to 42, and scores for the total scale from 42 to 294. A higher score indicates better well-being.

  a baseline measurement (w1)

• Psychological Well-being

  Six dimensions (autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance) measured with Ryffs Well-being scale (Ryff \& Keyes 1995), 42 item Version (Abbott et al., 2010). Scores for the subscales range from 7 to 42, and scores for the total scale from 42 to 294. A higher score indicates better well-being.

  change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)

• Internalizing symptoms

  Measured with the 18-item Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) (Spitzer et al., 2011), containing questions about depressivity, anxiety and somatic symptoms. The total score ranges from 18 to 90, and a higher score indicates more internalizing symptoms.

  a baseline measurement (w1)

• Internalizing symptoms

  Measured with the 18-item Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) (Spitzer et al., 2011), containing questions about depressivity, anxiety and somatic symptoms. The total score ranges from 18 to 90, and a higher score indicates more internalizing symptoms.

  change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)

• Externalizing symptoms

  Measured with the 10-item Externalizing Problems Screener (Renshaw \& Cook 2019). Total score ranges from 0 to 40, with a higher score indicating more externalizing symptoms.

  a baseline measurement (w1)

• Externalizing symptoms

  Measured with the 10-item Externalizing Problems Screener (Renshaw \& Cook 2019). Total score ranges from 0 to 40, with a higher score indicating more externalizing symptoms.

  change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)

• Functioning in social und and work situations

  Measured with the 5-item Work and Social Adjustment Scale (Mundt et al., 2002), measuring impairment in different social and work situations. The total score ranges from 0 to 40, with a higher score indicating worse functioning in social and work situations.

  a baseline measurement (w1)

• Functioning in social und and work situations

  Measured with the 5-item Work and Social Adjustment Scale (Mundt et al., 2002), measuring impairment in different social and work situations. The total score ranges from 0 to 40, with a higher score indicating worse functioning in social and work situations.

  change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Help seeking behaviour

  a baseline measurement (w1)

• Help seeking behaviour

  change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)

• Social Support

  a baseline measurement (w1)

• Social Support

  change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)

• Substance use

  a baseline measurement (w1)

Other Outcomes (12)

• Social information processing: Social Intelligence

  a baseline measurement (w1)

• Social information processing: Social Intelligence

  change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)

• Social information processing: Hostile interpretation bias

  a baseline measurement (w1)

Study Arms (4)

age 18

n=1017

age 19

n=676

age 20

n=337

age 21

n=500

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 21 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

General population of 18 to 21 years old from the German speaking region of Switzerland. Adresses stem from the Swiss household survey and are provided by the Federal Statistical Office.

You may qualify if:

• Age 18 to 21, Living in German-speaking Switzerland, Internet Access

You may not qualify if:

• Insufficient mastery of German

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Applied Science Northwestern Switzerland

Olten, 4600, Switzerland

Location

Related Publications (16)

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  PMID: 12615092 BACKGROUND

• Norman RE, Byambaa M, De R, Butchart A, Scott J, Vos T. The long-term health consequences of child physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med. 2012;9(11):e1001349. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001349. Epub 2012 Nov 27.

  PMID: 23209385 BACKGROUND

• Weissman DG, Bitran D, Miller AB, Schaefer JD, Sheridan MA, McLaughlin KA. Difficulties with emotion regulation as a transdiagnostic mechanism linking child maltreatment with the emergence of psychopathology. Dev Psychopathol. 2019 Aug;31(3):899-915. doi: 10.1017/S0954579419000348. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

  PMID: 30957738 BACKGROUND

• Pollak SD. Multilevel developmental approaches to understanding the effects of child maltreatment: Recent advances and future challenges. Dev Psychopathol. 2015 Nov;27(4 Pt 2):1387-97. doi: 10.1017/S0954579415000826.

  PMID: 26535932 BACKGROUND

• Abbott RA, Ploubidis GB, Huppert FA, Kuh D, Croudace TJ. An Evaluation of the Precision of Measurement of Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scales in a Population Sample. Soc Indic Res. 2010 Jul;97(3):357-373. doi: 10.1007/s11205-009-9506-x. Epub 2009 Sep 1.

  PMID: 20543875 BACKGROUND

• Berenson KR, Gyurak A, Ayduk O, Downey G, Garner MJ, Mogg K, Bradley BP, Pine DS. Rejection sensitivity and disruption of attention by social threat cues. J Res Pers. 2009 Dec 1;43(6):1064-1072. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2009.07.007.

  PMID: 20160869 BACKGROUND

• Brodbeck J, Matter M, Page J, Moggi F. Motives for cannabis use as a moderator variable of distress among young adults. Addict Behav. 2007 Aug;32(8):1537-45. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2006.11.012. Epub 2006 Dec 18.

  PMID: 17178197 BACKGROUND

• Dillon KH, Allan NP, Cougle JR, Fincham FD. Measuring Hostile Interpretation Bias: The WSAP-Hostility Scale. Assessment. 2016 Dec;23(6):707-719. doi: 10.1177/1073191115599052. Epub 2015 Aug 6.

  PMID: 26251297 BACKGROUND

• Ehring T, Zetsche U, Weidacker K, Wahl K, Schonfeld S, Ehlers A. The Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ): validation of a content-independent measure of repetitive negative thinking. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2011 Jun;42(2):225-32. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2010.12.003. Epub 2010 Dec 21.

  PMID: 21315886 BACKGROUND

• Ryff CD, Keyes CL. The structure of psychological well-being revisited. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1995 Oct;69(4):719-27. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.69.4.719.

  PMID: 7473027 BACKGROUND

• Nock MK, Wedig MM, Holmberg EB, Hooley JM. The emotion reactivity scale: development, evaluation, and relation to self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. Behav Ther. 2008 Jun;39(2):107-16. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2007.05.005. Epub 2007 Oct 29.

  PMID: 18502244 BACKGROUND

• Mundt JC, Marks IM, Shear MK, Greist JH. The Work and Social Adjustment Scale: a simple measure of impairment in functioning. Br J Psychiatry. 2002 May;180:461-4. doi: 10.1192/bjp.180.5.461.

  PMID: 11983645 BACKGROUND

• Silvera DH, Martinussen M, Dahl TI. The Tromso Social Intelligence Scale, a self-report measure of social intelligence. Scand J Psychol. 2001 Sep;42(4):313-9. doi: 10.1111/1467-9450.00242.

  PMID: 11547906 BACKGROUND

• Schluter MG, Hodgins DC, Wolfe J, Wild TC. Can one simple questionnaire assess substance-related and behavioural addiction problems? Results of a proposed new screener for community epidemiology. Addiction. 2018 Aug;113(8):1528-1537. doi: 10.1111/add.14166. Epub 2018 Feb 26.

  PMID: 29357188 BACKGROUND

• Spitzer C, Hammer S, Lowe B, Grabe HJ, Barnow S, Rose M, Wingenfeld K, Freyberger HJ, Franke GH. [The short version of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI -18): preliminary psychometric properties of the German translation]. Fortschr Neurol Psychiatr. 2011 Sep;79(9):517-23. doi: 10.1055/s-0031-1281602. Epub 2011 Aug 25. German.

  PMID: 21870312 BACKGROUND

• Brodbeck J, Botschi SIR, Vetsch N, Berger T, Schmidt SJ, Marmet S. Investigating emotion regulation and social information processing as mechanisms linking adverse childhood experiences with psychosocial functioning in young swiss adults: the FACE epidemiological accelerated cohort study. BMC Psychol. 2022 Apr 11;10(1):99. doi: 10.1186/s40359-022-00798-5.

  PMID: 35410310 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Emotional Regulation

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Self-Control; Social Behavior; Behavior

Study Officials

• Jeannette Brodbeck, PHD

  University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Prof. Dr.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 27, 2021
• First Posted: November 17, 2021
• Study Start: October 28, 2021
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2024
• Study Completion: May 1, 2024
• Last Updated: December 24, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL
• Time Frame: After the end of data collection (2025)
• Access Criteria: Access to these data is permitted for scientific purposes on request. A data access agreement will be signed and the source of the data (including the funding agency) needs to be acknowledged.

Locations

CH (1)