What Makes You Stronger: Further Clarifying the Relationship between Cumulative Lifetime Adversity and Well-Being

Abstract

While high levels of cumulative lifetime adversity (CLA) are associated with negative outcomes across a variety of domains, moderate levels of CLA have been found to predict higher levels of functioning and well-being. Additionally, research has indicated that adversity experienced in the early years of life is especially detrimental for future development. The present study extends past research on the relationship between cumulative lifetime adversity (CLA) and well-being in three ways. First, I examine the effect of both CLA and cumulative childhood adversity (CCA) on a more holistic assessment of well-being combining facets of both eudaimonic and subjective well-being (“flourishing”). I further explore the effect of CLA on subjective trajectories of satisfaction with life (SWL) derived from ratings of recollected past, current, and anticipated future SWL. Finally, I examine how different levels of CLA affect the accuracy of anticipated future SWL. Results indicated that increases in CCA were associated with lower levels of flourishing and SWL. Additionally, moderate levels of CLA were not associated with significantly better flourishing outcomes compared to high levels or no experience of CLA. Participants, regardless of their history of adversity, reported upward trajectories of SWL overtime (past SWL < present SWL < future SWL), while those with higher levels of reported CLA anticipated the greatest increase in future SWL. Finally, CLA did not moderate the concordance between predicted and actual levels of future SWL.