IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i22p14956-d971644.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Positive Childhood Experiences Associate with Adult Flourishing Amidst Adversity: A Cross Sectional Survey Study with a National Sample of Young Adults

Author

Listed:
  • Zhiyuan Yu

    (School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA)

  • Lin Wang

    (School of Nursing, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200025, China)

  • Wenyi Chen

    (School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA)

  • Juan Zhang

    (International Peace Maternity and Children Hospital of China Welfare Institution, Departments of Nursing, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200025, China)

  • Amie F. Bettencourt

    (Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of PCEs among young adults in Mainland China and the extent to which the cumulative number of PCEs moderates the associations between ACEs and flourishing in adulthood. Between August and November 2020, we used convenience and snowball sampling to recruit 9468 young adults, ages 18–35, enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs at universities in Mainland China to participate in a survey, which included measures on flourishing, exposure to ACEs and PCEs, and demographic characteristics. Approximately 92% of participants reported experiencing seven to nine PCEs, with harmonious family relationships (96.9%), feeling supported by friends (96.8%) and being treated fairly at school (96.3%) being the most common PCEs reported. Results of the multiple regression indicated that the cumulative number of PCEs statistically significantly moderated the relation between the cumulative number of ACEs and flourishing (interaction term b = −0.060 [−0.071, −0.049], p < 0.001, adjusted R 2 = 0.183); as the number of ACEs increased up through eight ACEs, decreases in flourishing were smaller among those with higher numbers of PCEs. PCEs are common among young adults from Mainland China and serve a potential buffering effect against exposure to ACEs.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhiyuan Yu & Lin Wang & Wenyi Chen & Juan Zhang & Amie F. Bettencourt, 2022. "Positive Childhood Experiences Associate with Adult Flourishing Amidst Adversity: A Cross Sectional Survey Study with a National Sample of Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-16, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:14956-:d:971644
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/14956/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/14956/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Bingbing & Pan, Yangu & Liu, Guangzeng & Chen, Wanfen & Lu, Jiamei & Li, Xu, 2020. "Perceived social support and self-esteem mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and psychosocial flourishing in Chinese undergraduate students," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    2. Chen, Ying & Kubzansky, Laura D. & VanderWeele, Tyler J., 2019. "Parental warmth and flourishing in mid-life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 65-72.
    3. Merrick, Jillian S. & Narayan, Angela J. & Atzl, Victoria M. & Harris, William W. & Lieberman, Alicia F., 2020. "Type versus timing of adverse and benevolent childhood experiences for pregnant women’s psychological and reproductive health," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Krista P. Woodward & Zhiyuan Yu & Wenyi Chen & Tingting Chen & Dylan B. Jackson & Terrinieka W. Powell & Lin Wang, 2023. "Childhood Bereavement, Adverse and Positive Childhood Experiences, and Flourishing among Chinese Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-15, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Liu, Yinbo & Ni, Xiaoli & Niu, Gengfeng, 2020. "The influence of active social networking services use and social capital on flourishing in Chinese adolescents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    2. Emily Dameron & Marcie C. Goeke-Morey, 2023. "The Relationship between Meaning in Life and the Childhood Family Environment among Emerging Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-12, May.
    3. Barbara Jankowiak & Sylwia Jaskulska & Belén Sanz-Barbero & Katarzyna Waszyńska & Karen De Claire & Nicola Bowes & Estefânia Silva & Sofia Neves & Natalia Albaladejo-Blázquez & Jacek Pyżalski & Iwona , 2021. "Will I Like Myself If You Hurt Me? Experiences of Violence and Adolescents’ Self-Esteem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-16, October.
    4. Laura Upenieks & Matthew A. Andersson & Markus H. Schafer, 2021. "God, Father, Mother, Gender: How Are Religiosity and Parental Bonds During Childhood Linked to Midlife Flourishing?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 3199-3220, October.
    5. Zişan Kazak & Marc Lochbaum & Ayşe Meliha Canpolat, 2021. "Flourishing in Young Adults: The Role of Achievement Goals, Participation Motivation, and Self-Perception Levels in Physical Activity Contexts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-11, July.
    6. Lin Zhang & Xueyao Ma & Xianglian Yu & Meizhu Ye & Na Li & Shan Lu & Jiayi Wang, 2021. "Childhood Trauma and Psychological Distress: A Serial Mediation Model among Chinese Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-11, June.
    7. Arslan, Gökmen & Genç, Emel, 2022. "Psychological maltreatment and college student mental wellbeing: A uni and multi-dimensional effect of positive perception," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    8. Liu, Jie & Li, Bingbing & Xu, Mengsi & Luo, Junlong & Li, Xu, 2022. "Effects of childhood maltreatment on prosocial behaviors among Chinese emerging adults: A mediated moderation model of psychological suzhi and gratitude," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    9. Maider Belintxon & Alfonso Osorio & Jokin de Irala & Marcia Van Riper & Charo Reparaz & Marta Vidaurreta, 2020. "Connections between Family Assets and Positive Youth Development: The Association between Parental Monitoring and Affection with Leisure-Time Activities and Substance Use," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-17, November.
    10. Zewei Li & Yangu Pan & Guangzeng Liu & Bingbing Li & Xu Li, 2022. "Childhood Maltreatment and Psychosocial Flourishing among Emerging Adults: Roles of Psychological Suzhi and Self-Esteem," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-11, April.
    11. Yongfeng Ma & Chunhua Ma & Xiaoyu Lan, 2022. "Openness to Experience Moderates the Association of Warmth Profiles and Subjective Well-Being in Left-Behind and Non-Left-Behind Youth," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-16, March.
    12. Sijia Guo & Diyang Qu, 2021. "Flourishing of Rural Adolescents in China: A Moderated Mediation Model of Social Capital and Intrinsic Motivation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-12, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:14956-:d:971644. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.