Veronika Kobrinsky ‘22

Major: Psychology
Bio: Veronika Kobrinsky (she/her) is a fourth-year psychology student who has been working as a crisis counselor and a pediatric/adolescent medical assistant throughout her time at Fordham which has inspired her passion for utilizing research to promote policy and intervention practices. Her primary research and clinical interests encompass post-trauma sequelae and developmental outcomes throughout the lifespan following traumatic experiences.

Title of Research: Mediators of the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and psychopathological symptoms in a non-clinical adult sample
Mentor: Dr. Karen Siedlecki-Burgoon, Department of Psychology
Abstract: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are consistently found to be negatively associated with physical, psychological, and social well-being throughout the lifespan. While previous studies have established risk factors and noxious outcomes arising post-ACEs, less attention has been given to factors such as resilience, social support, and subjective well-being that may help explain the relationship between ACEs and psychopathological outcomes. Hence, the objectives of this study are to examine (1) how ACEs are related to symptoms of anxiety, depression, and suicidality in adulthood, and (2) whether resilience, social support, and subjective well-being mediate the relationship between ACEs and psychopathological symptoms. Cross-sectional data on ACEs, psychological distress, potential mediating variables, and sociodemographic factors were collected from a community sample of adults aged 18-81 (N = 296) via an on-line survey. Results indicated that endorsing ACEs was significantly and positively correlated with experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, and suicidality. The results also support the hypothesis that resilience, social support, and two components of subjective well-being (life satisfaction and negative affect) partially mediated the relationship between adversity and psychological outcomes in adulthood. These findings highlight the importance of identifying additional mediators of the ACEs-psychopathological symptoms relationship to aid in the development of interventions and policies that could bolster developmental outcomes following adversity.