Adverse Childhood Experiences and Subjective Well-Being of Migrants: Exploring the Role of Resilience and Gender Differences

The issue of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) poses a significant global problem for welfare and health interventions. The link between ACEs and well-being underscores the importance of addressing this problem through research and policy development. While there is a growing body of research on ACEs, insufficient attention is paid to their influences on migrants. The present study examined the interrelationship between ACEs, resilience, and subjective well-being among 470 international migrants in China through a cross-sectional web-based design. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the study draws on the revised inventory of ACEs, the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), and the combined scales of subjective health, subjective happiness, and psychological health to measure subjective well-being. Based on the findings, migrants’ ACEs were negatively associated with subjective well-being (β= -0.44; p < 0.001). In addition, a positive association was also found between ACEs and resilience (β = 0.12; p < 0.05), however, a negative association was found between resilience and subjective well-being (β=-0.21; p < 0.001). ACEs of the migrants are associated with subjective well-being via resilience but with a significant trade-off in subjective well-being i.e., a dampening effect (β=-0.024 (SE = 0.008, CI = [-0.034, -0.004], p < 0.05). The findings of the study suggest that ACEs negatively influenced the subjective well-being of both males and females. However, the association between ACEs and resilience was significant only among female migrants. Interventions promoting well-being should seek a positive family environment to eradicate the transmission of adversities across the life course and provide population-specific and trauma-buffering resources such as cultural adaptation, social inclusion, and mental health support for at-risk migrant populations.