Adverse Childhood Experiences and Executive Functioning in Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Emotional States

While adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known to impair executive functioning (EF), the precise emotional mechanisms are underexplored. This study investigated the parallel mediating roles of positive and negative emotions in the ACEs-EF link and formally compared their relative influence on Chinese adolescents.

Using a cross-sectional design, 683 adolescents with a history of adversity completed self-report measures for ACEs, emotional states, and EF. A parallel mediation model was tested via structural equation modeling, with a 5,000-resample bootstrap procedure used to evaluate indirect effects.

The analysis revealed significant indirect effects of ACEs on EF through both diminished positive emotion (β = −.038, 95% CI [−.049, −.029]) and elevated negative emotion (β = −.057, 95% CI [−.072, −.045]). Critically, the pathway through negative emotion was confirmed to be significantly stronger (Difference = .019, 95% CI [.005, .034]), although a significant direct ACEs-EF path remained.

These findings provide robust evidence that emotional states are a primary mechanism transmitting risk from ACEs to EF impairment. The novel demonstration that negative emotion is a more potent mediator is a key contribution to the field.

This highlights the need for interventions that not only foster positive affect but also prioritize strategies aimed at mitigating and regulating negative emotions to buffer the neurocognitive consequences of childhood adversity.