Childhood Trauma and PTSD Symptoms Increase the Risk of Cognitive Impairment in a Sample of Former Indentured Child Laborers in Old Age

Abstract

A growing body of evidence suggests a link between early childhood trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and higher risk for dementia in old age. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between childhood trauma exposure, PTSD and neurocognitive function in a unique cohort of former indentured Swiss child laborers in their late adulthood. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study ever conducted on former indentured child laborers and the first to investigate the relationship between childhood versus adulthood trauma and cognitive function. According to PTSD symptoms and whether they experienced childhood trauma (CT) or adulthood trauma (AT), participants (n = 96) were categorized as belonging to one of four groups: CT/PTSD+, CT/PTSD-, AT/PTSD+, AT/PTSD-. Information on cognitive function was assessed using the Structured Interview for Diagnosis of Dementia of Alzheimer Type, Multi-infarct Dementia and Dementia of other Etiology according to ICD-10 and DSM-III-R, the Mini-Mental State Examination, and a vocabulary test. Depressive symptoms were investigated as a potential mediator for neurocognitive functioning. Individuals screening positively for PTSD symptoms performed worse on all cognitive tasks compared to healthy individuals, independent of whether they reported childhood or adulthood adversity. When controlling for depressive symptoms, the relationship between PTSD symptoms and poor cognitive function became stronger. Overall, results tentatively indicate that PTSD is accompanied by cognitive deficits which appear to be independent of earlier childhood adversity. Our findings suggest that cognitive deficits in old age may be partly a consequence of PTSD or at least be aggravated by it. However, several study limitations need to considered. Consideration of cognitive deficits when treating PTSD patients and victims of lifespan trauma (even without a diagnosis of a psychiatric condition) is crucial. Furthermore, early intervention may prevent long-term deficits in memory function and development of dementia in adulthood.

Childhood trauma and complex posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in older adults: A study of direct effects and social-interpersonal factors as potential mediators

“…A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 7 Previous publications with this dataset showed that CTE influenced self-efficacy, conscientiousness and self-control (Simmen-Janevska, Horn, Krammer & Maercker, 2014), cognitive functioning (Burri, Maercker, Krammer, & Simmen-Janevska, 2013), and depression (Kulman, Maercker, Bachem, Simmen & Burri, 2013). Another earlier analysis demonstrated that 26.3% were diagnosed with 'classic' PTSD and that 82.8% reached the cut-off for clinically relevant CTE .…”

Transgenerational aspects of former Swiss child laborers: do second generations suffer from their parents’ adverse early-life experiences?

“…Data for the parental sample of the former “Verdingkinder” have been collected within a larger study on long-term consequences of indentured child labor in Switzerland conducted by our research group between 2010 and 2012 (Burri et al, 2013; Kuhlman, Maercker, Bachem, Simmen, & Burri, 2013; Maercker et al, 2015). Within a project on biological consequences of childhood experiences and trauma, a subsample of former child laborers provided further information (Küffer et al, 2016).…”

“…Historiographical studies have documented the harsh environment in which these individuals grew up, reporting that a large proportion of the children were regularly beaten, emotionally and sexually abused, and that some were even beaten to death (Furrer, Heiniger, Huonker, Jenzer, & Praz, 2014; Leuenberger & Seglias, 2008). Survivors of the former “Verdingkinder” are now in late life, and studies have reported high prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and poor mental health (Burri, Maercker, Krammer, & Simmen-Janevska, 2013; Maercker, Hilpert, & Burri, 2015; Maercker, Krammer, & Simmen-Janevska, 2014). Even though childhood trauma is not necessarily associated with former childhood labor, the sample of former “Verdingkinder” reported here was specifically selected for their childhood trauma in order to represent a common form of the “Verdingkind” phenomenon (Leuenberger & Seglias, 2008).…”

Depression, anxiety-like behavior and memory impairment are associated with increased oxidative stress and inflammation in a rat model of social stress

“…Stressful life events are believed to contribute to development of human psychopathologies including anxiety and depression (Kessler, 1997; Post, 1992), as well as cognitive impairment (Arnsten, 2009; Arnsten and Rubia, 2012; Burri et al, 2013; Ronnlund et al, 2013; Shansky and Lipps, 2013). Although there exists large body of evidence demonstrating the negative impact of stress on emotional symptoms including depression, anxiety (Millan et al, 2012) and cognitive impairment (Alzoubi et al, 2013a; Devilbiss et al, 2012; Jonsdottir et al, 2013; Ohman et al, 2007; Ronnlund et al, 2013; Schwabe et al, 2012), however, studies investigating role of stress in comorbid prevalence of anxiety, depression and cognitive impairment in humans (Andreotti et al, 2013; Millan et al, 2012), or co-occurrence of anxiety and depression-like behaviors as well as learning-memory impairment, in animals are limited (Gomez et al, 2013; Haridas et al, 2013).…”