Adverse childhood experiences and relationship quality. The mediating role of conflict styles

Abstract

Studies show that up to 64% of the population reports at least one adverse childhood experience (Felitti et al., 1998). Among various other negative outcomes, these are related to reduced social functionality during adulthood, such as increased conflict and decreased quality of romantic relationships (Baumann et al., 2024; Gobout et al., 2020). This study explores the possible mediating role of couple conflict styles in the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and relationship quality in a non-clinical sample of adults involved in a romantic relationship. 176 participants (M age = 24.09 years, SD age = 7.41 years, 87.7 % women) completed an online survey containing the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (Felitti et al., 1998), the Conflict Resolution Styles Inventory (Kurdek, 1994) and the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Busby et al., 1995). The hypotheses were tested using Pearson correlations and mediation analyses. The results show that dysfunctional, but not the functional conflict styles, mediate the negative association between adverse childhood experiences and relationship quality. The results, as well as their practical implications, are discussed.