The Circles of Resilience model: exploring how social and structural conditions foster child resilience in the context of ACEs

Front Public Health. 2026 Jun 22;14:1802488. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1802488. eCollection 2026.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Despite strong evidence linking adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to poor health, current healthcare interventions lack robust empirical support, underscoring the need for a new framework to build child resilience across healthcare, policy, community, and family systems.

OBJECTIVES: To introduce and provide preliminary empirical evidence supporting the Circles of Resilience (CoR) model by examining whether social connections and vital conditions buffer pathways linking ACEs, maternal anxiety, and child self-regulation in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving Latino families.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study using parent-reported data collected from 2021-2023 at an FQHC in San Diego, California (N = 156 Latino mother-child dyads). Measures included ACEs, maternal anxiety, child self-regulation, and protective factors: (1) social connections and (2) vital conditions (housing, food security, transportation, community resources). Structural equation modeling examined interrelationships among ACEs, maternal anxiety, and child self-regulation, including whether maternal anxiety mediated pathways and whether familial protective factors moderated associations.

RESULTS: Higher ACEs were associated with worse child self-regulation (β = 7.44, p < 0.001). There was an indirect association between ACEs and child self-regulation via maternal anxiety (indirect β = 2.48, p = 0.006; ACEs → anxiety β = 0.67, p = 0.007; anxiety → self-regulation β = 3.72, p < 0.001). Vital conditions were significantly associated with child self-regulation (β = -1.81, SE = 0.92, p = 0.049), whereas social connections were not (β = 2.08, SE = 1.87, p = 0.266). Higher social connections weakened the ACEs-maternal anxiety association (interaction β = -0.70, p = 0.005), while the buffering effect of vital conditions was not significant (β = -0.61, p = 0.078).

CONCLUSION: Findings provide preliminary support for CoR model pathways. Higher ACEs were associated with poorer child self-regulation, partially mediated by maternal anxiety. Vital conditions were directly associated with child self-regulation, whereas parental social connections were not. However, social connections significantly buffered the ACEs-maternal anxiety association, suggesting a protective effect on caregiver stress. The buffering effect of vital conditions was not significant. If replicated longitudinally, findings may clarify distinct mechanisms through which contextual resources shape resilience in children exposed to early adversity.

PMID:42440518 | PMC:PMC13333587 | DOI:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1802488