The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Protective and Compensatory Experiences, and Parenting Attitudes Among Fathers
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are defined as potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood particularly between the ages of 0 and 17 years that negatively influence long-term health, relational functioning, and parenting practices (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2026; Felitti et al., 1998; Merrick et al., 2019). Conversely, protective and compensatory experiences (PACEs) have emerged as protective factors that foster resilience and possibly buffer against the adverse outcomes of ACEs (Narayan et al., 2018). As the existing research has greatly focused on mothers, little is known about how men’s early life experiences shape their parenting attitudes, particularly during the formative years of their children’s development. This study included 286 fathers who had children under the age of 5 years old. The participants completed measures of ACEs, PACEs, and parenting attitudes to assess for any relationships between these variables. A Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was conducted to examine the bivariate relationships among the five primary study variables: ACEs, PACEs, early learning, affection and attachment, and rules and respect. Results indicated higher ACE scores were significantly associated with greater endorsement of rule-based parenting attitudes and lower levels of affection- and attachment-focused attitudes. PACEs were positively correlated with affection and attachment and early learning, suggesting positive childhood experiences are linked to more emotionally responsive and developmentally supportive parenting attitudes. Contrary to the initial hypotheses, PACEs were also positively associated with rules and respect, indicating fathers with more positive childhood experiences may endorse both emotional connection and structure orientated parenting attitudes.
parenting attitudes, adverse childhood experiences, positive childhood experiences, Child Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Counseling Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Social Psychology
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