Date of Graduation

8-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Psychological Science

Advisor/Mentor

McDaniel, Brenda

Committee Member

Mahmoud, Rania

Second Committee Member

Levine, Bill

Third Committee Member

Geisler Wheeler, Jill

Abstract

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events, such as abuse, neglect, and household disruption, that occur during the first 18 years of life. ACEs have been found to be strongly linked to negative outcomes, such as poor physical health, poor mental health, low self-esteem, low emotion regulation, poor college adjustment, low life satisfaction, and low social connectedness, and high loneliness (Felitti et al., 1998; Carbonell et al., 2018; Cloitre et al., 2019; Mosley-Johnson et al., 2018; Yayan et al., 2019). Previous literature suggests that fear of missing out (FoMO) may help explain some of the negative consequences of ACEs (Wan et al., 2023); however, there is no empirical work to date. The present study seeks to fill this gap in the research literature. Specifically, the present study investigated the relationship between ACEs and physical health, psychological functioning (mental health, self-esteem, and emotion regulation), and psychosocial adjustment (college adjustment, life satisfaction, social connectedness, and loneliness), with FoMO serving as a mediator. The present sample consisted of 399 U.S. college students aged 18-25. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing ACEs, FoMO, physical health, psychological functioning, and psychosocial adjustment. It was found that higher exposure to ACEs was linked to worse physical health, worse psychological functioning, and poorer psychosocial adjustment, and FoMO served as a partial mediator for these relationships. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs); fear of missing out (FoMO); physical health; psychological functioning; psychosocial adjustment

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