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Adverse childhood environment and late‐life cognitive functioning
Author(s) -
Ritchie Karen,
Jaussent Isabelle,
Stewart Robert,
Dupuy AnneMarie,
Courtet Philippe,
Malafosse Alain,
Ancelin MarieLaure
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/gps.2553
Subject(s) - cognition , psychology , psychological resilience , cognitive skill , early childhood , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , adverse effect , psychiatry , medicine , psychotherapist
Objective Clinical studies suggest that childhood maltreatment may cause nervous system changes and consequent cognitive disorder. The persistence of this association in late‐life is examined. Methods Cognitive functioning and childhood events were examined in 1282 persons over 65 years, taking into account proximal competing causes of poor cognitive performance. Results Ninety one per cent experienced at least one adverse childhood event, of these 14.7% severe events. Sharing of parental problems and, for women, loss of a parent were associated with poorer verbal retrieval whereas being sent to a foster home or mistreatment by schoolmates was associated with poorer visuospatial memory. Severe abuse was associated with a lower risk of cognitive impairment on some tests suggesting a resilience factor. Positive childhood environment was protective although only for non‐carriers of the ApoE ε4 allele on the central executive task. Conclusions Some adverse childhood events continue to have a negative effect on later‐life cognitive performance, while some more severe acute events may have the opposite effect, underlying the necessity to consider events individually and not as global test scores. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.