Relationship between adverse childhood experiences, attachment, and emotional regulation: A review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE: This review investigates the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), attachment, and emotion regulation, aiming to understand their impact on emotional and cognitive development throughout life. Beyond synthesizing previous findings, this review proposes a framework that clarifies how these variables interact, specifies mechanisms and developmental trajectories, and delineates practice-oriented directions for early, family-centered assessment, prevention, and intervention. METHOD: A literature search was conducted in international databases to identify journal articles, analyzing how these theories explain the relationship between ACEs, attachment, and emotional regulation. RESULTS: Greater exposure to ACEs is often associated with greater difficulties in emotion regulation and with a higher likelihood of insecure attachment, including anxious attachment, from adolescence into adulthood. Moreover, the evidence we discuss indicates that antecedent-focused emotion regulation strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal, are linked to better adjustment than response-focused strategies, such as suppression, thereby specifying clinically relevant targets. CONCLUSION: This investigation highlights the need for preventive interventions to break the intergenerational trauma cycle and promote long-term psychological well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).