Clinical trial NCT05122988: Facing Adverse Childhood Experiences
Official title: Facing Adverse Childhood Experiences Using New Technologies
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Conditions: Adverse Childhood Experiences
Keywords: Adverse childhood experiences
psychosocial functioning
emotion regulation
social information processing
social support
Lead sponsor: University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2021-11-17
Enrollment: 2606
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 21
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: General population of 18 to 21 years old from the German speaking region of Switzerland. Adresses stem from the Swiss household survey and are provided by the Federal Statistical Office.

Brief summary: Childhood experiences affect psychosocial well-being and mental health across the life course for better or worse. The aim of the present study is to investigate how adverse childhood experiences before the age of 18 impact psychological functioning in young adulthood, and whether social information processing and emotion regulation may mediate these associations.

Detailed description: The study plans to recruit 5000 young adults aged 18 to 21 representative of the German speaking Swiss population. Participant will be invited to the study by mail. Addresses stem from a Swiss sampling registry ("Stichprobenregister SRPH") and are provided by the Swiss Statistical Office. Access to this address lists is reserved to studies of national interest that are funded by the Swiss National Science foundation. Data collection will be conducted online with a REDCap survey following an accelerated cohort design. After the baseline measurement (w1), three follow ups are planned after 1 year (w2), 2 years (w3) and 3 years (w4), resulting in ages 18 to 24 being covered. The primary outcome will be psychosocial functioning across the study period.

1. Primary objective:

   The primary objective of the study is to analyse the longitudinal associations between childhood experiences, emotion regulation, social information processing, social support and psychosocial functioning in young adults.
   * Hypothese 1 is that adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are associated with a higher risk for lower psychosocial functioning in young adulthood and 2) that this association is mediated by deficits in emotion regulation, social information processing and lower social support.
   * Hypothese 2 is that positive childhood experiences are associated with higher social support, adaptive emotion regulation and high well-being in young adulthood and that good relationships with parents and high social support are a protective factor in the presence of adversities.
   * Hypothese 3 is that among young adults with ACE, higher social support, seeking professional help and more adaptive coping strategies are associated with a more adaptive psychosocial functioning.

   Secondary objectives are
2. to examine the effect of childhood experiences on emotion regulation and social information processing.
3. to investigate the effects of emotion regulation and social information processing on the quality of friendships and social support.
4. to analyse the longitudinal associations of childhood experiences, emotion regulation, social information processing, social support and the single variables that constitute the composite score of psychosocial functioning, e.g. well-being, psychosocial distress, risk behaviours.
5. to investigate the associations between ACE, emotion regulation and social information processing and seeking professional support.
6. Further exploratory hypotheses investigate whether there are patterns of ACE which show differential associations with emotion regulation, social information processing, support and psychosocial functioning or single variables of psychosocial functioning.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Age 18 to 21, Living in German-speaking Switzerland, Internet Access

Exclusion Criteria:

* Insufficient mastery of German

Primary outcomes:
measure: Latent composite score for psychosocial functioning
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Latent composite score for psychosocial functioning
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
measure: Psychological Well-being
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Psychological Well-being
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
measure: Internalizing symptoms
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Internalizing symptoms
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
measure: Externalizing symptoms
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Externalizing symptoms
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
measure: Functioning in social und and work situations
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Functioning in social und and work situations
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Help seeking behaviour
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Help seeking behaviour
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
measure: Social Support
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Social Support
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
measure: Substance use
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Substance use
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
measure: Psychosocial Burden
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Psychosocial Burden
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
Other outcomes:
measure: Social information processing: Social Intelligence
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Social information processing: Social Intelligence
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
measure: Social information processing: Hostile interpretation bias
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Social information processing: Hostile interpretation bias
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
measure: Social information processing: Rejection sensitivity
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Social information processing: Rejection sensitivity
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
measure: Emotion regulation: Perseverative Thinking
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Emotion regulation: Perseverative Thinking
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
measure: Emotion regulation: Emotion Reactivity
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Emotion regulation: Emotion Reactivity
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
measure: Emotion regulation: Self-Efficacy for Managing Emotions
timeFrame: a baseline measurement (w1)
measure: Emotion regulation: Self-Efficacy for Managing Emotions
timeFrame: change over 3 years (from w1 to w4)
Locations:
city: Olten
country: Switzerland
facility: University of Applied Science Northwestern Switzerland
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland
name: Jeannette Brodbeck, PHD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
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