Summary
Evidence on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and late-life cognitive outcomes is inconsistent, with little research among diverse racial/ethnic groups. Authors investigated whether ACE exposures were associated with worse late-life cognition for all racial/ethnic groups and at different ages of exposure.
Covariate-adjusted mixed-effects linear regression models estimated associations of: (1) total number of ACEs experienced, (2) earliest age when ACE occurred and (3) type of ACE with overall cognition. Authors studied Kaiser Permanente Northern California members and were Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences study baseline participants, aged 65 years and older (n=1661; including 403 Asian-American, 338 Latino, 427 Black and 493 white participants).
Findings: Most respondents (69%) reported one or more ACE, most frequently family illness (36%), domestic violence (23%) and parental divorce (22%). ACE count was not adversely associated with cognition overall, in any racial/ethnic group or for any age category of exposure. Pooling across all race/ethnicities, parent’s remarriage, mother’s death, and father’s death were associated with worse cognition.
Adverse childhood exposures overall were not associated with worse cognition in older adults in a diverse sample, although three ACEs were associated with worse cognitive outcomes.
This study refers to 2009 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data.
