Adverse Childhood Experiences and Other Predictors of Psychological Strain in College Students in a Post-Pandemic World.

The Covid-19 pandemic was associated with increases in negative mental health state for college students. In a post-pandemic environment, this negative mental health state seems to have lingered. We used factor analysis to uncover a latent variable that we called psychological strain, which represented an important combination of negative mental health effects many students have been experiencing, including mental health strain, mental instability, sadness, anxiety, and unhappiness. We then ran path analysis to see which factors most closely predicted psychological strain. As there have been calls to study the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on the mental health of college students, we also included them in our model. We produced a model that explained 56% of the variance in psychological strain (R2 = .559). We found social isolation (total effects = .454), household dysfunction (total effects = .261), and Covid-fear (total effects = .230) to be the most important risk factors, while appearance satisfaction (total effects = -.253) meaning in life (total effects = -0.154), and self-esteem (total effects = -.154) were the most important protective factors. We also ran discriminant function analysis and uncovered a latent variate, which we called consolation deficiency, which seems to reflect an important aspect that those high in ACEs may share. Consolation deficiency is defined as a consistent lack of actual or perceived validation, comfort, or relief, when dealing with psychological trauma or pain, often marked by maladaptive or impulsive behaviors.