Childhood Stressors, Relationship Quality, and Cognitive Health in Later Life

Abstract

Objectives The rising prevalence of cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, and related disorders signals the need for a better understanding of how social factors may affect cognitive health for millions of Americans. Drawing from cumulative inequality theory, we aim to understand the implications of a stressful childhood on social relationships and cognitive health in later life. Methods This study utilizes longitudinal data (2006-2016) from the Health and Retirement Study to examine pathways, both direct and indirect through social relationships in adulthood, from childhood stressors to cognitive health trajectories over time. Results Respondents reporting a greater number of stressors in childhood had worse cognitive health over time, but those negative effects were not as steep as time progressed. Early-life stressors are also associated with less social support and more social strain in adulthood which, in turn, are associated with initial cognitive health. Finally, pathway analyses confirm that childhood stressors are indirectly associated with initial cognitive health through social strain and social support. Discussion Findings reveal that a stressful childhood creates chains of risks that have lifelong implications for cognitive health, both directly and indirectly by creating obstacles for developing healthy and supportive social relationships.

Protective factors for psychosocial outcomes following cumulative childhood adversity: systematic review

“…All outcomes were measured after 18 years of age, and most papers measured outcomes in young to middle adulthood, although some were measured as late as 75 31 , 32 or 80 years of age 33 and one study reported an age range up to 100 years. 34 The most common outcomes were related to mental health (ten papers), namely symptoms of depression (six papers), but also more general measures of mental health (two papers), anxiety (one paper), psychological distress (two papers) and psychiatric care utilisation (one paper). There was one paper that measured hyperarousal symptoms related to post-traumatic stress and one measure of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in general.…”

“…Sheikh 38 examined self-rated quality and quantity of social support together, and found that this had a stronger effect than either type on its own. Thomas et al, 34 who measured cognitive health outcomes, used a measure of combined social support from a spouse, children, other family and friends.…”

Long‐run intergenerational health benefits of women empowerment: Evidence from suffrage movements in the US

“…In many developing countries, there are large gender gaps in various aspects of life, including labor force participation, political participation, and education (Schwab et al, 2017). Moreover, these countries reveal substantially lower 1 A growing body of research evaluates the early-life parental investment and childhood conditions on later-life outcomes, including cognitive development (Abufhele et al, 2017;Thomas et al, 2022), education (Case et al, 2005;de Haan and Leuven, 2020;Smith, 2009), labor market outcomes (Flores & Kalwij, 2014;Goodman-Bacon, 2021b;Schiman et al, 2019), disability (Arthi, 2018;Muchomba & Chatterji, 2020;Schiman et al, 2019), hospitalization (Miller & Wherry, 2019;Scholte et al, 2015), diabetes (Sotomayor, 2013), respiratory function (Bartley et al, 2012), psychological stress (Daly & Delaney, 2013;Darin-Mattsson et al, 2018), old-age mental health (Adhvaryu et al, 2019;Singhal, 2019), and mortality outcomes (Hayward & Gorman, 2004;Ko & Yeung, 2019;Smith et al, 2014;Steptoe & Zaninotto, 2020;Van Den Berg et al, 2006, 2011. For instance, Smith et al (2014) employ Utah Population Database (UPDB) to explore the effects (and the mediatory channels) of early-life parental death on old-age mortality.…”

“…1 1 A growing body of research evaluates the early‐life parental investment and childhood conditions on later‐life outcomes, including cognitive development (Abufhele et al., 2017; Thomas et al., 2022), education (Case et al., 2005; de Haan and Leuven, 2020; Smith, 2009), labor market outcomes (Flores & Kalwij, 2014; Goodman‐Bacon, 2021b; Schiman et al., 2019), disability (Arthi, 2018; Muchomba & Chatterji, 2020; Schiman et al., 2019), hospitalization (Miller & Wherry, 2019; Scholte et al., 2015), diabetes (Sotomayor, 2013), respiratory function (Bartley et al., 2012), psychological stress (Daly & Delaney, 2013; Darin‐Mattsson et al., 2018), old‐age mental health (Adhvaryu et al., 2019; Singhal, 2019), and mortality outcomes (Hayward & Gorman, 2004; Ko & Yeung, 2019; Smith et al., 2014; Steptoe & Zaninotto, 2020; Van Den Berg et al., 2006, 2009, 2011). For instance, Smith et al.…”

Early learning difficulties, childhood stress, race, and risk of cognitive impairment among US adults over age 50: A cross‐sectional analysis

“…55 Similarly, our findings on father's unemployment and having to repeat a year of school generally echo those from other studies that assessed the long-term impact of childhood stressors such as trauma and poor childhood SES on late life cognitive health. [56][57][58] Childhood trauma resulting from socioeconomic strain has been linked to negative health impacts such as poor physical and mental health, behavioral problems, poor academic achievement, and depression across the life course. 59,60 While research has shown that early learning problems may persist lifelong, their effects may be reduced if adequate treatment/ interventions are provided during childhood.…”