SELF-EFFICACY MEDIATES ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES ON PURPOSE IN LIFE

Most people have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and the impacts have wide-ranging implications on a person's life. One of the ways ACEs encumber a person is through their self-efficacy. Lowered self-efficacy can impede a person's ability to set and achieve goals and, in more fundamental ways, take care of their physical and mental health. It has been suggested that self-efficacy plays a mediating role against the effects of ACEs while having a positive relationship on purpose in life. The relationship between ACEs and self-efficacy on purpose in life has not yet been examined. The current study aimed to explore the mediating role of self-efficacy between ACEs and purpose in life. A mediation analysis was conducted using data collected through the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) study. Measures consisted of the Sense of Control Scale measuring self-efficacy, purpose in life subscale from Ryff's Psychological Well-being Scale, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which was combined with other individual questionnaire items to create a composite ACE score. While controlling for education, marital status, and gender, the results revealed that self-efficacy mediates the relationship between ACEs and purpose in life, accounting for over half (58%) of the variance. Findings suggest that self-efficacy is a critical factor in overturning the negative impact of ACEs on purpose in life.