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An investigation into early-life stress and cognitive function in older age

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2019

Sarah A. Grainger ,
John D. Crawford ,
Nicole A. Kochan ,
Karen A. Mather ,
Russell J. Chander ,
Brian Draper ,
Henry Brodaty ,
Perminder S. Sachdev  and
Julie D. Henry
Sarah A. Grainger*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
John D. Crawford
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Nicole A. Kochan
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Karen A. Mather
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Sydney, Australia
Russell J. Chander
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Brian Draper
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Henry Brodaty
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Perminder S. Sachdev
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Neuropsychiatric Institute, the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia
Julie D. Henry
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Sarah A. Grainger, PhD, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia. Email: s.grainger@uq.edu.au.
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Abstract

Early-life stress (ELS) has previously been identified as a risk factor for cognitive decline, but this work has predominantly focused on clinical groups and indexed traditional cognitive domains. It, therefore, remains unclear whether ELS is related to cognitive function in healthy community-dwelling older adults, as well as whether any effects of ELS also extend to social cognition. To test each of these questions, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) was administered to 484 older adults along with a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery and a well-validated test of social cognitive function. The results revealed no differences in global cognition according to overall experiences of ELS. However, a closer examination into the different ELS subscales showed that global cognition was poorer in those who had experienced physical neglect (relative to those who had not). Social cognitive function did not differ according to experiences to ELS. These results indicate that the relationship between ELS and cognition in older age may be dependent on the nature of the trauma experienced.

Keywords

Early-life stresschildhood traumacognitionsocial cognition
Type
Brief Report
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 32 , Special Issue 11: Issue Theme: Risk versus Protective Factors for Decline versus Well-Being , November 2020 , pp. 1325 - 1329
Copyright
© International Psychogeriatric Association 2019

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