Exploring the Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Internet Use, and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents.
 
 Vigil, Jorge, A; Rogers, Christopher; Shanazari, Eric; Donis, Stephanie, C; Forster, Myriam.
 
Background: Adverse childhood experiences(ACE) are correlated traumatic events occurring during childhood that have been linked to an increased risk of depression. Despite the recognition that ACE can have negative consequences for adolescent development and that the internet can be either a source of support or undermine wellbeing, the relationship between ACE, internet use, and depressive symptoms remains unexplored among youth populations.
 
 Methods: Data (N=878) are baseline survey responses from students enrolled in a longitudinal study investigating psychosocial risk and protective factors for school and health outcomes. Regression models tested the association between ACE (0 ACE, 1-3ACE, and >4 ACE), internet use, and depressive symptoms and whether the internet use could mitigate the association between age and depressive symptoms.
 
.Results: The sample had a mean age of 15(SD), was 46% male, 40% African American,26% Non-Hispanic White, 20% Hispanic, 8%Multi-Ethnic, and 6% Asian, Every additional54Health Behavior Research, Vol. 7, No. 2 [2024], Art. 4https://newprairiepress.org/hbr/vol7/iss2/4DOI: 10.4148/2572-1836.12612024 Annual Conference Poster and Presentation List ACE (β =1.404, 95% CI: .838 – 1.970) and increase in internet use score (β=2.43, 95%CI: 1.64 – 3.21) was associated with higher depressive symptomology. Internet use moderated the ACE-depressive symptom association; among students with no and 1-3ACE, internet use exacerbated the negative effects of ACE for depressive symptoms [NoACE β =3.61, 95% CI: 2.23-4.99) 1-3 ACE (β=2.43, 95% CI:1.49 – 3.37)] however ,internet use did not affect the ACE depressives symptoms association among youth with >4 ACE.
 
Conclusion: There is growing concern that internet use can undermine youth resilience and our results suggest higher levels of internet use exacerbate the association between ACE and depressive symptoms for most students (0 ACE and 1-3 ACE) but not for youth who had the highest levels of depressive symptomology (> 4 ACE),minimizing the effect of internet use in this group. Future research should continue to explore these associations so that prevention programs can be developed.