Adverse childhood experiences, daily worries, and positive thoughts: A daily diary multi-wave study

Objective: To examine adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as a prospective predictor of the day-to-day associations between worries and positive thinking among late adolescents. Method: Cumulative ACEs were measured from parent and youth reports between the ages of 9.9 and 18.1. Late adolescents (N = 103) reported daily worries and positive thoughts across ten days. Results: Adverse childhood experiences predicted higher and more variable levels of day-to-day worry. Increases in positive thinking on one day predicted less next-day worry for adolescents with low, but not high, ACE scores. Conclusions: Daily worry during late adolescence may be an important consequence of earlier exposure to ACEs. Early interventions focused on worry reduction and improved emotion regulation might mitigate worry among high-ACE youth.