Adverse Childhood Experiences and Psychological Adjustment: The Mediating Roles of Emotion Dysregulation and Social Media Addiction

Abstract

Psychological adjustment is one of the cornerstones of mental health and quality of life. Negative experiences in childhood are one of the main risk factors that threaten this adjustment. These experiences can lead to the development of different behavioral addictions by impairing individuals' emotion regulation abilities. This, in turn, can make the connection between childhood adverse experiences and psychological adjustment more intricate and multi-layered. Therefore, in this study, the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and psychological adjustment was examined within the framework of a serial mediation model that starts through emotion dysregulation and continues through social media addiction. A total of 306 (207 females, 99 males; M-age = 27.33 +/- 9.45) adult volunteers participated in the study. The analysis showed that the serial mediation model was confirmed. The obtained results contributed to a deeper understanding of the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and psychological adjustment. Moreover, the full mediation model showed that both emotion dysregulation and social media addiction are critical mechanisms in this relationship. Therefore, efforts to mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences, enhance emotion regulation skills, and reduce digital addictions can promote better psychological adjustment.