Relationships between adverse childhood experiences, attachment, resilience, psychological distress and trauma among forensic mental health populations

There has been an association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), attachment style and resilience with later life psychological distress, yet this area remains under-researched among forensic mental health populations. The current study aimed to explore predictive relationships between ACEs, attachment and resilience and later-life psychological distress and trauma in a sample with a history of forensic mental health service use. A total of 128 participants completed six questionnaires relating to these factors: The Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ); the Vulnerable Attachment Scale Questionnaire (VASQ); the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM); the Resilience Research Centre Adult Resilience Measure (RRC-ARM); the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-10 (CORE-10); and the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ). ACEs were found to be highly prevalent and significant correlations were found between lower levels of adult resilience and insecure attachment, and increased psychological distress and trauma symptoms. Attachment style was found to mediate some of these relationships. The findings support a model in which higher ACEs may lead to insecure attachment style and low resilience in the forensic mental health population, thereby resulting in higher levels of later life psychological distress and trauma. Attachment and resilience may be important factors to consider for preventative and reactive interventions within forensic mental health care.