Adversity and resilience have both been consistently shown to impart holistic, cumulative, and life-long effects on well-being. However, the relationship between experiencing adversity and developing resilience has shown to be complex and interactive. While the independent effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), adversity in adulthood, and protective factors in both childhood and adulthood have been previously studied and consistently supported, there has not been adequate research looking into the complex relationships between these variables as they relate to determining overall well-being. The current study attempts to parse out the relative predictive power of these four factors in determining overall well-being in adulthood as well as to demonstrate and clarify the presence and nature of their interactive relationships.
Of the factors utilized in this study, childhood protective factors appear to be the greatest predictor of well-being, followed by adulthood protective factors, ACEs, and finally, recent stress, which may not significantly impact well-being at all.
Childhood protective factors and adulthood protective factors both appear to buffer the negative impacts of ACEs and recent stress on well-being. Furthermore, recent stress appears to moderate the effects of ACEs on well-being, through both buffering against negative effects when ACEs are high, and exacerbating negative effects when ACEs are low. Finally, the influence of childhood protective factors on well-being appears to be so salient that no other factors make a significant impact on well-being over and above that of childhood protective factors, regardless of their magnitude
