[Abstract] Individuals with early life stress (ELS) are at an elevated risk for long-term internalizing problems such as anxiety. This trajectory may be explained in part by psychophysiological changes (e.g., increased amygdala volume and dysregulated stress hormone responses) which impair emotion regulation and lead to aberrant threat responses. Individuals with more ELS may show a delayed recovery from anxiety after acute stress exposure. Using a pre-test, post-test, follow-up design, UCLA undergraduates (N=91) were assessed for state anxiety before and after undergoing social stress induction through the Trier Social Stress Test or playing video games (control condition) and at 30-minutes follow-up. Participants also responded to validated self-report measures of ELS, trait anxiety, socioeconomic status, and depression. Multivariate generalized linear modeling revealed a significant interaction between acute stress and childhood emotional abuse at 30-minutes follow-up but not at post-test over and above the effects of trait anxiety, socioeconomic status, and depression. Results indicate that ELS may slow the recovery from stress without changing the magnitude of the stress response.