Adverse childhood experiences, basic psychological needs, and adolescent affective distress: Revisiting the buffering role of resilience factors

Past research has associated adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with higher levels of affective distress. However, the mediation and moderation mechanisms among adolescents are less clear, particularly regarding the inconsistent findings on whether typical resilience factors (e.g., individual resilience and social support) effectively buffer the impacts of ACEs. Previous debates often did not adequately consider the interplays of resilience factors with different ACE dimensions, with less attention to the corresponding unique moderated mediation pathways (e.g., via basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration). This study examined the moderated mediation mechanisms linking two ACE dimensions (i.e., maltreatment versus household dysfunction) to adolescent affective distress, with the mediating role of basic psychological needs and the moderating role of different resilience factors (i.e., individual resilience, peer support, and teacher support). A two-wave longitudinal survey obtained 992 valid adolescent participants from China (mean age = 14.215 years, SD = 1.165 at Wave 1). Structural equation modeling was used to examine moderated mediation models. The results showed that (1) Maltreatment (not household dysfunction) positively predicted affective distress (total effects); (2) needs frustration (not needs satisfaction) significantly mediated the maltreatment-affective distress relation, with maltreatment positively related to needs frustration, which in turn positively predicted affective distress; (3) individual resilience, peer support, and teacher support intensified the link between maltreatment and needs frustration, with the moderating effects on other pathways nonsignificant. This study reveals the distinct impacts of the two ACE dimensions and underscores the limitations and risks of the resilience factors in the ACE context.