Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2250-1124

Date of Award

Summer 5-19-2025

Document Type

Campus Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

Paul Nestor

Second Advisor

Alice Carter

Third Advisor

Richard Hunter

Abstract

Many diathesis-stress models have long emphasized interactions between childhood adversity and genetic vulnerability in the development of adult mental illness but rarely have positive childhood experiences been formally incorporated in models of both psychiatric risk and resilience. Similarly, the mental health literature has long emphasized the role of adversity and has defined mental health solely in relation to the absence of psychopathology. However, more recent efforts have called for a broader conceptualization of mental health that captures aspects of wellness in addition to the absence of psychopathology or mental illness. In this thesis, we build on the Mental Health Continuum (MHC) model by Keyes (2005), which offers an expanded framework that defines health beyond the absence of mental illness by adding wellbeing as an important, independent, but correlated dimension to mental health. Building on Keyes' model, this master thesis aims to enhance understanding of the role of positive childhood experiences (PCEs) and their impact on mental health and wellbeing by (1) testing the reliability validity of the newly developed PCE scale; (2) exploring the role of PCEs and their association with key mental health outcomes such as psychological wellbeing, psychiatric risk, and cognitive functioning; and (3) exploring whether PCEs can play a protective factors in reducing the risk of adverse mental health outcomes. The sample consisted of 100 participants (70 females; 40% Non-Hispanic White), with a mean age of 21.22 years (SD=1.99). A subsample of 49 healthy participants with a mean age of 21.41 years (SD=1.90) also completed the PCE measure along with the, MHC, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scale, Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and a battery of neuropsychological assessment. The results provided evidence of high internal reliability for the PCE (Cronbach alpha=.949), which in turn correlated in the predicted direction with reduced psychiatric risk but heightened wellbeing, as assessed by the BSI and MHC, respectively. Higher PCEs also correlated with better neuropsychological performance across tests of working memory, oral reading, executive functioning as well as a measure of social cognition, The Reading the Mind’s Eye Test. While ACEs were found to be associated with higher psychiatric risk and negatively impact other aspects of mental health, PCEs demonstrated a stronger association with improved mental health overall, accounting for a greater portion of the variance in psychiatric risk and wellbeing than ACEs. Results support the potentialrole of PCEs in mental health and provide preliminary evidence supporting the reliability and validity of the PCE scale. Future research should explore the moderating effects of PCEs using larger samples in mitigating risk and investigate culturally specific PCEs to enhance ecological validity across diverse populations.

Comments

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