The Italian version of the benevolent childhood experiences scale: psychometric properties and incremental validity in predicting resilience beyond adverse childhood experiences

Positive childhood experiences are increasingly recognized as developmental resources that may promote psychological adaptation beyond the absence of adversity. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Benevolent Childhood Experiences Scale (BCEs) and its incremental contribution to resilience beyond adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). A community sample of 644 Italian adults (68.94% women; M_age = 28.22, SD = 9.78) completed the BCEs, ACE-Q, and Brief Resilience Scale. Item endorsement rates, internal consistency, confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance across gender, correlations, and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Item endorsement was high, and a one-factor confirmatory factor analysis using WLSMV showed overall acceptable model fit. Internal consistency was moderate (KR-20 = 0.63; ω = 0.66), and gender invariance was partially supported. BCEs were negatively associated with ACEs and positively associated with resilience. In hierarchical regression analyses, BCEs made a small but statistically significant incremental contribution to the prediction of resilience beyond age, gender, and ACEs (ΔR² = 0.017). Findings provide initial support for the Italian BCEs as a brief measure of benevolent childhood experiences and suggest a modest incremental contribution of BCEs to perceived resilience beyond adverse childhood experiences.