Adverse Childhood Experiences, Family Resilience, and Military Veteran Reintegration to Civilian Life

Drawing on life course and family resilience perspectives, this study explores the role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as veterans separate from the U.S. military and return to civilian life. The study (a) extends prior research connecting cumulative ACEs with veteran reintegration difficulties, (b) assesses whether associations hold after controlling risk and protective factors from before (e.g. positive childhood experiences or PCEs), during (e.g. combat exposure), and after (e.g. family resilience) military exit, and (c) tests whether family resilience moderates associations between childhood experiences and reintegration outcomes. Veterans who separated from the military within the past 5 years completed measures of ACEs, PCEs, other risk/protective factors, and four reintegration outcomes (reintegration difficulties, depression, contempt for civilian communication, and veteran empowerment). Cumulative ACEs predicted multiple reintegration outcomes, while family resilience moderated associations between PCEs (but not ACEs) and outcomes. Directions for future research into ACEs and military family communication are discussed.