Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with substance use problems, however, few studies have examined the mechanisms underlying this relationship. Research has found that cannabis use motives may mediate the association between ACEs and cannabis-related problems among young adults. However, research has not identified the affective components driving coping motives. Further, higher instances of ACEs predict an increased tendency to experience internalized shame. Coping with shame may be the mechanism linking ACEs to cannabis-related problems. Data were collected using Prolific, an online crowdsourcing platform. Participants were young adults (n = 155, 61.9% Female, 56.8% White) ages 18-29 years (M =22.8, SD = 3.01), who used cannabis in the past year. A serial mediation model examined whether cannabis use coping motives and shame mediate the association between ACEs and cannabis-related problems 6-months later. The overall model showed good fit to the data (χ2(8) =14.30, p=.07, CFI=.96, SRMR=.04, RSMEA=.07). There was a significant indirect effect from ACEs to cannabis-related problems (IND=0.06; 95% CI=0.01 to 0.16) through internalized shame and cannabis-use coping motives. The model accounted for 41% of the variance in cannabis-related problems. Findings suggest that individuals who reported greater ACEs were more likely to endorse cannabis-use coping motives, and this association was fully mediated by internalized shame. Coping motives in turn were associated with greater cannabis-related problems, and coping motives fully mediated the link between shame and problems. Interventions that target reduction in maladaptive affective responses to ACEs, such as shame may be a promising avenue for cannabis use disorder treatment.

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Adverse childhood events have been identified as a risk factor for developing chronic pain conditions in adulthood. However, previous studies have inconsistently supported the link between adverse childhood events and hypersensitivity to laboratory-induced pain. Therefore, this study intended to investigate the effects of adverse childhood events on temporal summation of second pain (TSSP). A group of 38 healthy and pain-free college students participated in laboratory pain tests after being screened for childhood trauma history. Half of participants (47.5% female) were positive for childhood trauma and the other half (63.2% female) reported no adverse childhood event. The laboratory pain tests measured TSSP using 10 thermal pulses per trial over four consecutive trials. The trauma group showed a tendency of greater sensitization within TSSP trials and lack of habituation over repeated TSSP trials. In sum, adverse childhood events predisposed adults to enhanced TSSP, which is potentially linked to an increased likelihood to develop chronic pain problems.