The association between childhood adversity and resilience among cadets: Evidence from The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Study.

Abstract

In this study, our aims were to (a) examine the associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; i.e., childhood maltreatment, household challenges, and peer victimization) and resilience, adjusting for sociodemographic variables, and (b) test the moderating effect of emotional regulation on the association between childhood maltreatment ACEs and resilience in Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) cadets. Study data were from the RCMP Study. Participants were Cadets (N = 597, 75.0% men) who underwent a full assessment before the Cadet Training Program (CTP). Logistic regression models were used to estimate the associations between ACEs and resilience while adjusting for sociodemographic variables and to test the moderating effect of emotional regulation; adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. Several childhood maltreatment ACEs were associated with decreased resilience among cadets after adjustment for sociodemographic covariates: physical abuse, aOR = 0.26, 95% CI [0.10, 0.68]; emotional abuse, aOR = 0.28, 95% CI [0.10, 0.79]; neglect, aOR = 0.22, 95% CI [0.09, 0.55]; exposure to intimate partner violence, aOR = 0.18, 95% CI [0.04, 0.73]; and peer victimization, aOR = 0.30, 95% CI [0.12, 0.76]. The interaction between exposure to any childhood maltreatment ACE and emotional suppression, as assessed using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, was significantly associated with low resilience scores, aOR = 0.94, 95% CI [0.89, 0.99]. The current results underscore the critical importance of mitigating the adverse impact of childhood maltreatment ACEs on resilience processes among cadets before the CTP.