Examining emotional invalidation as a potential moderator between adverse childhood experiences and perceptions of academic stress

Date

2023-05-06

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Honors Program, The University of Tampa

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to numerous problems including physical and mental health problems, and socioemotional development issues. Socioemotional variables appear to be particularly important in the later development of negative outcomes (Chainey & Burke, 2021), including emotional validation (Lambie & Lindberg, 2016). We hypothesized that higher levels of adverse childhood experiences and higher levels of emotional invalidation would be correlated with lower levels of academic eustress. We also hypothesized that emotional invalidation would moderate the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and positive academic stress perception (eustress). To examine our research question, we used the following measures: a demographics questionnaire, the Childhood Experiences Survey (CES; Mersky et al., 2017), Invalidating Childhood Environment Scale (ICES; Mountford et al., 2007), and the Academic Eustress Scale (AES; O’Sullivan, 2011). ANCOVA results demonstrate no significant relationship between adverse childhood experiences, emotional invalidation, and academic eustress. Correlation analyses supported our hypothesis that higher levels of emotional invalidation would be related to lower levels of academic eustress but did not support our hypothesis that higher levels of adverse childhood experiences would be related to lower levels of academic eustress. Our findings require further investigation, as our results differ from those of other studies.

Description

Recommended Citation: Demers, Kayla. “Examining Emotional Invalidation as a Potential Moderator between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Perceptions of Academic Stress.” Honors Program, The University of Tampa, 2023. https://doi.org/10.48497/DYB3-HT71.

Keywords

psychology, trauma, stress, adverse childhood experiences, emotional invalidation, academic eustress

Citation

Demers, Kayla. “Examining Emotional Invalidation as a Potential Moderator between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Perceptions of Academic Stress.” Honors Program, The University of Tampa, 2023. https://doi.org/10.48497/DYB3-HT71.