(PS11-5) Adverse and Benevolent Childhood Experiences Moderate the Association Between PTSD Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are a robust risk factor for suicidal ideation (SI; Boffa et al., 2019). While adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; e.g., physical, emotional, sexual abuse, physical and emotional neglect; Felitti et al., 1998) have been empirically demonstrated to increase the risk of later suicidality (Felitti et al., 1998; Wang et al., 2019), benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs; e.g., predictable home routines, having supportive adults outside of parents/caregivers; Narayan et al., 2015) have been shown to mitigate the potential harmful effects of ACEs (Hou et al., 2022). This study examined the three-way interaction between BCEs, ACEs, and PTSD symptoms on SI to determine if higher levels of BCEs protect against ACE- and PTSD-symptom-related SI. To test our hypothesis, we administered an online questionnaire to 874 university students (70.3% woman, 80.4% White, M_Age = 19.1 years). We examined the association between PTSD symptoms and SI at low (-1 SD), medium (mean), and high (+1 SD) levels of ACEs and BCEs. Over half (52.4%) of the sample endorsed experiencing both ACEs and BCEs. The three-way interaction was significant (β=0.15, p< .05), and the overall model accounted for 38.5% of the variance in SI. At all levels of ACEs, the positive association between PTSD symptoms and SI weakened as BCEs increased. These findings advance the traditional conceptualization of ACEs as a risk factor for later negative psychological consequences by expanding the lens through which clinicians approach historical events in their treatment of PTSD and SI. Further, they encourage engagement with community partners to ensure adequate assessment and utilization of ACEs and BCEs in their evaluation of risk and in their clinical practices, as both may relate to clinical outcomes.