Descriptives of the subsamples being exposed or not exposed to ACE’s with exposure being defined as at least one CTQ subscale exceeding the moderate cut off (Bernstein & Fink, 1998; Häuser et al., 2011)

ACE operationalization in different theoretical approaches and challenges of their statistical translation

Illustrsation of CS discrimination in SCRs during acquisition training (A-B) and generalization phase (C-D) for individuals unexposed (gray) and exposed (pink) to ACE’s. Barplots (A and C) with error bars represent means and standard errors of the means (SEMs). Distributions of the data are illustrated in the raincloud plots (B and D). Points next to the densities represent CS discrimination of each participant averaged across phases. Boxes of boxplots represent the interquartile range (IQR) crossed by the median as a bold line, ends of whiskers represent the minimum/maximum value in the data within the range of 25th/75th percentiles ±1.5 IQR For trial-by-trial SCRs across all phases, see Supplementary Figure 4). log = log-transformed, rc = range corrected.

Illustration of SCRs during acquisition training (A-B) and the generalization phase (C- D) for individuals unexposed (gray) and exposed (pink) to ACE’s separated by stimulus types (CS+ dark shades, CS-: light shades). Barplots (A and C) with error bars represent means and SEMs. Distributions of the data are illustrated in the raincloud plots (B and D). Points next to the densities represent SCRs of each participant averaged across stimulus types and phases. Boxes of boxplots represent the interquartile range (IQR) crossed by the median as a bold line, ends of whiskers represent the minimum/maximum value in the data within the range of 25th/75th percentiles ±1.5 IQR. CS = conditioned stimulus, log = log-transformed, rc = range corrected.

Results of t-tests comparing CS discrimination, the linear deviation score (i.e., generalization) and general reactivity between exposed and unexposed participants

Illustration of general reactivity in SCRs across all experimental phases for individuals unexposed (gray) and exposed (pink) to ACEs. Barplots (A) with error bars represent means and SEMs. Distributions of the data are illustrated in the raincloud plots (B). Points next to the densities represent the general reactivity of each participant averaged across all phases. Boxes of boxplots represent the interquartile range (IQR) crossed by the median as a bold line, ends of whiskers represent the minimum/maximum value in the data within the range of 25th/75th percentiles ±1.5 IQR.

Illustration of general reactivity in SCRs across all experimental phases for individuals unexposed (gray) and exposed (pink) to ACE’s. Barplots (A) with error bars represent means and SEMs. Distributions of the data are illustrated in the raincloud plots (B). Points next to the densities represent the general reactivity of each participant averaged across all phases. Boxes of boxplots represent the interquartile range (IQR) crossed by the median as a bold line, ends of whiskers represent the minimum/maximum value in the data within the range of 25th/75th percentiles ±1.5 IQR.

Means and standard errors of the mean of CS discrimination in SCRs during acquisition training (A) and the generalization phase (B), LDS (C), and general reactivity in SCRs (D) for the four CTQ severity groups respectively. The dashed line indicates the moderate CTQ cut-off frequently used in the literature and hence also employed in our main analyses: On a descriptive level, CS discrimination in SCRs during acquisition training and generalization test as well as generalization (i.e., the LDS) and the general reactivity are lower in all groups exposed to ACEs at an at least moderate level as compared to those with no or low exposure - which corresponds to the main analyses (see above). log = log-transformed, rc = range corrected.

Scatterplots with marginal densities illustrating the associations between the number of CTQ subscales exceeding a moderate or higher cut-off Häuser, Schmutzer, & Glaesmer (2011) and CS discrimination in SCRs (A) as well as SCRs to the CS+ (B) and CS- (C) during acquisition training. log = log-transformed, rc = range corrected.

Scatterplots with marginal densities illustrating the associations between CTQ composite scores of abuse (left panel) and neglect (right panel) and CS discrimination in SCRs (A and B) as well as SCRs to the CS+ (C and D) and CS- (E and F) during acquisition training. Note that the different ranges of CTQ composite scores result from summing up two and three subscales for the neglect and abuse composite scores, respectively (see also Table 2 for more details). log = log-transformed, rc = range corrected, R squ. = R squared.