Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) were first described in a publication in1988 by researchers Dr. Vincent Felitti of Kaiser Permanente, an American health care company, and Dr. Robert Anda of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, who surveyed 17,000 members about childhood abuse, neglect and household disruptions and later health and wellbeing. Their study demonstrated that the more negative childhood experiences the more likely a person was to develop detrimental outcomes across both health and psychosocial domains. Since then, there has been a wealth of research confirming these findings. However there has been scant attention to ‘how positive mental health, as quantified by measures of mental well-being, may ameliorate long-term negative health impacts, and subserve as a key mechanism in resilience.’
A Study with a Strength-Based Lens
Connon et al ( 2026), researchers based in NSW, took this direction. They studied the wellbeing trajectories of 1,668 healthy Australian adults with and without ACES at four points in time. Well-being was assessed at each stage with the 26 item COMPAS-W tool which identified both pleasure and meaning based aspects. A comprehensive battery of measures collected information on functional outcomes at 10 and 12 years including medical outcomes, psychological outcomes, socio-demographic and social outcomes, emotion regulation, and coping outcomes.
What Did they Find?
Both groups that had experienced ACE’s and those who had not were found to have distinct high and low wellbeing trajectories which the researchers characterised as “resilient” or “languishing.” 66% of those who reported ACE’s fell in the high wellbeing group compared to 85% who had not, confirming previous findings about the potential consequence of early experiences.
An unexpected positive outcome was that “those with ACEs who maintained higher wellbeing experienced broad long-term health benefits, including lower risk of psychiatric illness,
obesity, and sleep or alcohol problems, and higher odds of good social, occupational, and lifestyle functioning. While similar trends were seen in the non-ACE group, effects were less pronounced.”
Earlier research had shown that those with higher wellbeing had healthier ways of dealing with stress and better emotion regulation skills and lived healthier lives with regular exercise, better diet, and designated time to engage in enjoyable activities. They were also more extroverted and conscientious which are personality traits which enhance social connection.
What Does this Mean for Practitioners?
Understanding the importance of ACEs and the serious and lifelong implications of these experiences has been important for practitioners to better recognize clients with complex, multiproblem, multisystem presentations. The current research adds an additional and more hopeful lens. Both practitioners and families need to be clear that it is not inevitable that the future is forever marked by these experiences. Enhancing and improving relationships between family members and peers and adopting a future time focus are good places to begin. Early intervention addressing both neurobiological impacts and social consequences can produce changes that may ensure lifelong positive functioning equivalent to those whose early years have been kinder.
Connon, E., Park, H. R. P., Turner, R. M., Williams, L. M., & Gatt, J. M. (2026). The 12-year longitudinal
impact of risk and resilience trajectories on adult health following childhood trauma. American
Psychologist. Advance online publication. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0001658
©Copyright Bower Place™ Pty. Ltd. 2026
