Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are defined as disruptive and harmful events that are typically chronic in nature taking place within a child’s social environment. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced widespread disruption, particularly among emerging adults (18-24 years old), exacerbating mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. Literature suggests ACEs may amplify the impact of trauma experienced during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Enforced confinement may have triggered ACE exposure or painful reminders of past ACEs, increasing vulnerability to mental health concerns. We test the hypothesis: The COVID-19 lockdown serves as a predictive factor in shaping the current mental health outcomes of young adults, amplifying the influence of individual ACEs. Survey data was collected from 81 young adults (aged 18-24) from South Africa (n = 39) and the US (n = 42) using a Qualtrics cross-sectional survey. Respondents were surveyed on their ACEs, pandemic-induced stress, and mental health outcomes. Preliminary findings show the overall sample (44.3% male and 51.9% female) reported relatively low scores (M = 1.17, SD = 1.43) for total ACE burden (score range, 0-7). However, an independent samples t-test indicated that participants residing in South Africa reported significantly higher ACE scores (M = 1.54, SD = 1.68) compared to those residing in the United States (M = 0.83, SD = 1.06), t(79) = 2.28, p = .026, with a medium effect size (d = 0.51). Additionally, a linear regression also showed that ACEs significantly predicted mean negative emotions impacted by COVID-related stressors, showing a weak but positive relationship (β = 0.14, t(79) = 2.81, p = .006, R² = .09). Findings show that exposure to ACE serves as a predictive factor in determining COVID-19-related stressors in emerging adults. Preliminary insights underscore the importance of further research to explore the interplay between ACEs and pandemic-related mental health outcomes, particularly among emerging adults in diverse cultural contexts.