Abstract: Post-traumatic stress disorder in early adulthood is closely associated with adverse childhood experiences. This study first defined the core connotations of adverse childhood experiences and post-traumatic stress disorder, and systematically sorts out the measurement for both; second, relying on models such as epigenetics and shattering hypothesis, it analyzed the mechanisms through which adverse childhood experiences affect the occurrence and development of post-traumatic stress disorder in early adulthood from multiple dimensions; finally, based on the risk and protective factors model, it summarized the roles of risky and protective mediating factors in the aforementioned relationship, aiming to fully present the complex functional network of this association. The study showed that adverse childhood experiences have longterm impacts on post-traumatic stress disorder in early adulthood through direct and indirect pathways. Future research should focus on constructing preventive and intervention strategies, expanding the types of variables, and strengthening cross-cultural comparative studies.

Key words: post-traumatic stress disorder, adverse childhood experiences, early adulthood