Adverse childhood experiences predict daily academic engagement via positive but not negative affect: A daily diary study
Wang Zheng, Yueling Wei, Zhiyu Liu, Bo Yang, Yueying XuAbstract
Background
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to poorer academic outcomes, but less is known about how they shape students' everyday learning processes and the affective mechanisms involved.
Objective
To test whether ACEs predict daily academic engagement and whether daily positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) mediate this association.
Participants and Setting
224 vocational college students completed a 14‐day daily diary. All participants were based in mainland China.
Methods
We used multilevel models controlling for gender, age and household income. Indirect effects were tested in separate and parallel multilevel mediation models with 95% CIs.
Results
Results showed that ACEs were negatively associated with average daily academic engagement, B = −.104, β = −.287, p = .001. In the separate models, the indirect association through PA was significant, B = −.070, Monte Carlo 95% CI [−.116, −.025], β = −.194, whereas the indirect association through NA was non‐significant, B = −.019, Monte Carlo 95% CI [−.043, .003], β = −.053. In the parallel model, the indirect association through PA remained significant, B = −.067, Monte Carlo 95% CI [−.111, −.024], β = −.187, whereas the indirect association through NA remained non‐significant, B = −.004, Monte Carlo 95% CI [−.014, .002], β = −.012.
Conclusions
Childhood adversity may erode daily learning primarily through reduced positive affect, highlighting emotional skills—especially sustaining PA—as potential intervention targets.