CHFA | Psychology Department Showcase: Completed Projects
Childhood Experiences and Obesity in Adulthood
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Psychology
Minor
Human Development and Learning
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Esther Malm, PhD
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
Adverse childhood experiences are both short term and long term events of emotional, sexual, physical, mental abuse as well as neglect that occur before the 18th birthday. These taxing events have been demonstrated to negatively impact not only one's mental health into adulthood but their physical health as well. The presence of ACEs in one's life can significantly affect the trajectory of their health, with studies indicating correlates of ACE exposure to increased likelihood of substance abuse, suicidality, and obesity. In the wake of the positive psychology movement, researchers have begun to investigate benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs), which are positive experiences during the first eighteen years of life that foster feelings of safety as well as security. It has been demonstrated that individuals who have experienced a high amount of ACEs and a high amount of BCEs do not have the same negative health outcomes as those who only experienced significant adversity in childhood, suggesting that BCEs could have a protective effect against the negative outcomes demonstrated with ACEs. Due to the salience of BCEs, there exists a need to develop a scale to measure their presence in the US population. The present study sought to achieve two goals: (1) to validate the Memories of Home and Family scale (originally developed in the UK population) among a sample in the United States. (2) to examine the role of ACEs and BCEs in obesity. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant direct and moderation relationship between ACEs, BCEs, obesity scores, and perceptions of obesity. Participants (n = 278) were sampled from a US population via Prolific, a market research platform. The participants' ages ranged from 20-83 years old (M = 41.89) with 50% being female.. Additionally, 14.9% were students and 70.7% were employed. The data is currently being analyzed and would be presented at scholar’s week.
Fall Scholars Week 2023 Event
Psychology: Completed Projects
Childhood Experiences and Obesity in Adulthood
Adverse childhood experiences are both short term and long term events of emotional, sexual, physical, mental abuse as well as neglect that occur before the 18th birthday. These taxing events have been demonstrated to negatively impact not only one's mental health into adulthood but their physical health as well. The presence of ACEs in one's life can significantly affect the trajectory of their health, with studies indicating correlates of ACE exposure to increased likelihood of substance abuse, suicidality, and obesity. In the wake of the positive psychology movement, researchers have begun to investigate benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs), which are positive experiences during the first eighteen years of life that foster feelings of safety as well as security. It has been demonstrated that individuals who have experienced a high amount of ACEs and a high amount of BCEs do not have the same negative health outcomes as those who only experienced significant adversity in childhood, suggesting that BCEs could have a protective effect against the negative outcomes demonstrated with ACEs. Due to the salience of BCEs, there exists a need to develop a scale to measure their presence in the US population. The present study sought to achieve two goals: (1) to validate the Memories of Home and Family scale (originally developed in the UK population) among a sample in the United States. (2) to examine the role of ACEs and BCEs in obesity. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant direct and moderation relationship between ACEs, BCEs, obesity scores, and perceptions of obesity. Participants (n = 278) were sampled from a US population via Prolific, a market research platform. The participants' ages ranged from 20-83 years old (M = 41.89) with 50% being female.. Additionally, 14.9% were students and 70.7% were employed. The data is currently being analyzed and would be presented at scholar’s week.